


Nothing Lasts Forever

by Miko



Series: Full Circle [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alpha/Beta, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst and Feels, Blackwatch Era, Developing Relationship, Dom/sub Undertones, Eventual Happy Ending, Hand Jobs, Implied/Referenced Incest, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Oral Sex, Past Rape/Non-con, Touch-Starved, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:01:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miko/pseuds/Miko
Summary: Jesse McCree never imagined his life could be this good. He's got a place to belong, a way to make a difference, and a bond with an Alpha who makes him feel like the most important thing in the world. He's even starting to build a relationship with his recalcitrant newest teammate, despite Genji's understandable trust issues. But nothing perfect can last forever; dark changes and tough choices hover on the horizon.Genji Shimada's ability to trust other people was shattered by his brother's attack, and he has no intention of rebuilding it. But watching the interaction between his Alpha commander and beta teammate, Genji discovers some uncomfortable truths about himself - and about Hanzo. It changes nothing, and yet it changes everything.
Relationships: Genji Shimada/Hanzo Shimada reference, Jesse McCree/Genji Shimada, Jesse McCree/Reaper | Gabriel Reyes
Series: Full Circle [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666282
Comments: 17
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The purpose of this story is not to bash Reyes, but it does reflect the changes in his character that we all know will happen. If you're looking for happy Reyes/McCree, that's not where this series is headed long-term.

When Blackwatch missions went bad, they tended to go balls to the wall fucked over sideways six ways from Sunday bad. Jesse had been through far more than his fair share, and it seemed like in hindsight there was always some stupidly obvious thing they should've seen coming that would have averted the whole disaster.

This time, hindsight struck right about the moment a cloud of purple gas spewed into his face; it occurred to him that maaaaybe they should've considered that a lab suspected of manufacturing highly illegal nerve toxins might use some of those toxins in their security system.

Then it was too late to think about anything but the utter, mind-shattering, gut-wrenching _panic_ that swept over him like a stampeding herd of bulls.

Crying out, Jesse hit the ground in a crumpled heap, curling up into as tight a ball as he could manage, arms over his head as if that would protect him somehow. His beta instincts went haywire, insisting that he was surrounded by pissed-off Alphas all pouring out a sickening stew of furious scents. Anger, aggression, and every other negative emotion he'd ever scented on an Alpha slammed into him, over and over again, reducing Jesse to a pathetic, shivering wreck in response.

It was the worst thing Jesse had ever experienced, and considering some of the things one of the other leaders of the Deadlock Rebels had done to Jesse as a beta teenager, that was saying something. And yet in the back of his head, Jesse knew it was entirely artificial. 

Enraged, he struggled against the instincts, but while the scents themselves might not be real, his reaction to them was. His heart beat so hard he was surprised his ribs didn't crack from the force, breath rushing in and out far too fast as he hyperventilated, struggling to send out enough waves of calming scent to pacify the Alphas who weren't really there.

"McCree!"

Genji's shout reached Jesse as if from a great distance, fighting with the pounding of blood in his ears from his racing heartbeat. Since his teammate was a normal human, there was no accompanying rush of pheromones demanding Jesse's attention, like there would have been if Reyes had called for him. As a result, Jesse's instincts refused to let him focus on anything but the imaginary angry Alphas he was still frantically trying to calm so they wouldn't tear him to pieces.

A hand closed over his arm, and Jesse yelped like a frightened dog, twisting away from the hold. "No!" His back fetched up against a wall, and he huddled against it, trying to hide even though there was no cover. The heat of humiliation burned in his cheeks, the tiny part of him that was still coherent knowing he was making an idiot of himself, but unable to wrest control from his overwrought hindbrain. 

"McCree. _Jesse_." Genji's voice was gentle, far kinder than Jesse had ever heard it before. "What's happening? Talk to me."

Jesse forced his eyes open - when had he squeezed them shut? Genji knelt in front of him, hands hovering inches from Jesse's shoulders, red eyes wide and concerned. The hallway was still empty behind him, no matter what Jesse's nose was telling him, but that would undoubtedly change soon as security personnel responded to the trap he must have set off. 

Gritting his teeth, he struggled to get words out past the panic obstructing his throat. "Stay… back… the gas…"

"Won't affect me." Genji tapped the metal mask that always covered his face, creating a closed high-oxygen environment for his damaged lungs. "What's it doing to you? Can you stand?"

Idiot. "Could… absorb… through skin," Jesse ground out. With his bare arm and chest, Genji actually had more exposed skin than most people walking around in a place like this.

Genji looked startled, then chagrined. "Okay, fair point, but it dropped you instantly and I'm still fine, so we got lucky. We have to get out of here."

"I can't… can't…" He couldn't fucking do _anything_ , was the god's honest truth. It was frustrating and frightening, and Jesse hated every second of it. He despised looking weak, especially in front of others. 

Too many had looked down on him for the 'weakness' of being a beta, and he'd fought his whole life to prove them wrong. Now it felt like they'd been right all along, and he was nothing but a lowly, cowering...

No. Fucking _no_ , Jesse was not going to let himself buy into that bullshit, not for a hot second. "Help me… up." He forced himself to uncurl from his useless defensive posture, holding out a badly shaking hand to request assistance.

Except the moment Genji's hand brushed his, Jesse yelped again and yanked back as if he'd been struck, huddling up. "Fuck!" He'd meant it to be a shout, but the curse came out as a whimper.

Genji made a sound Jesse couldn't interpret. It wasn't disdainful or impatient, as Jesse might have expected. If anything, it sounded regretful. "Obviously there’s only one way to handle this. I'm sorry, McCree."

Sorry? Was the damn ninja planning to take off and leave him here, save his own skin at Jesse's expense? Surely not. Genji was brusque at the best of times and downright harsh at others, but he was as honest and loyal as they came. He wouldn't…

Something struck the back of Jesse's neck, and he spun out into oblivion. His last thought was an incoherent hope that the non-existent angry Alphas would take the hint and fuck off while he was unconscious.

* * *

There was a soft hiss of white noise that washed through Jesse as he rose slowly back to awareness. His heart was still racing, breath still coming too harsh and fast, and the imaginary Alphas had _not_ taken the damn hint. But at least the static wasn't angry with him, though the voice that spoke intermittently through it certainly sounded upset and frustrated.

"Commander Reyes, do you copy?" A long pause, filled with static. "Base, this is Blackwatch Unit Prime. Require assistance immediately." More static. " _Anyone_ on Overwatch frequencies, please respond!"

Static.

"K'so!" The muttered word was familiar. Jesse had looked it up once, since Genji refused to translate, and it wasn’t polite by a long shot. "They must be jamming the whole area. McCree, are you conscious yet?"

It took him a moment to realize the last words had been aimed at him. Jesse managed a groan in response, but nothing approaching coherent words. It seemed to get the point across, because he sensed the ninja settle on the floor next to him.

"We're on our own," Genji told him, and sounded grim. "Reyes will come looking once we've been out of contact too long, but that won't be for hours."

Jesse whimpered, another wave of panic crashing over him at the thought of spending hours like this. He flinched at every tiny rustle of sound, every breath of air as Genji moved, his subconscious convinced that he was about to take the beating of his life.

He wanted Gabriel, wanted _his_ Alpha, who would easily be able to calm him through their bond. Or, at the very least, reassure him that as long as his Alpha was there, no others would ever be able to hurt him.

At the same time, he hated himself for what felt like crying for his mommy, letting his instincts rule him. Jesse might be a beta, and plenty of people had thought he was weak as a result. For some - including his former Alpha in Deadlock - it had been the last mistake they ever made. He was stronger than this, goddamnit.

"I am not… this… fucking weak," Jesse growled, trying to convince himself with the words. "I ain't a goddamn coward!"

"You are not weak," Genji agreed, his tone sharp enough that Jesse flinched. Genji must have seen, because his next words were more gentle. "This fear is not cowardice. I ran a blood sample through our med kit scanner while you were unconscious. It couldn't recognize the drug or suggest an antidote, but whatever it is, your fight or flight reflex is through the roof trying to combat it. The chemical stew in your system right now would terrify a bull."

Forcing his eyes open, Jesse looked up at the ninja crouching over him. He flinched again at the way Genji was looming, but fought the instinct to scramble away. "Why're you bein' so nice all of a sudden?"

Genji's expressions were difficult to read at the best of times, thanks to the mask that covered most of his face. Usually Jesse could tell it was some variation of a scowl. At the moment, he looked almost… sad? 

"McCree, while I acknowledge I can be an asshole, even I don't go around kicking wounded puppies. That's pretty much what being nasty to you feels like right now."

"Don't need your pity," Jesse ground out. There was little he hated more than being pitied, and he'd spent his entire adult life fighting against that sort of 'kindness'.

"It's not pity. Call it empathy, if you like." Genji met Jesse's gaze head on, unwavering. "I know something of what it feels like to be this desperately afraid."

Maybe he did, at that. Rumour had it that Genji survived his brother's attack pretty much through sheer, stubborn willpower. How must he have felt, watching those deadly dragons sweep towards him, knowing it would almost certainly kill him? How scared had he been to wake up in the Overwatch hospital, missing most of his damn body, told he would never walk again?

Yeah, maybe it wasn't pity after all. And if Genji could admit to genuinely feeling that kind of fear without any hint of shame, then he wasn't going to think less of Jesse for being forced into the emotion.

The unexpected understanding helped loosen Jesse's tongue a bit. "All my instincts are… goin' haywire. Every goddamn alarm reflex I got… all at once. Like a whole fuckin' pile of Alphas are about to attack me."

Genji looked thoughtful. "Moira theorized that the rumoured effects of the toxin sounded like they were modeled on the pheromone triggers of a panicked beta. Maybe since you actually are one, it's affecting you much worse than it would a normal person."

"Could be." Jesse huddled up, hiding his face against his arms, unable to fight the need to protect himself any longer. Even knowing there was no threat, he simply couldn't make his subconscious believe that. Now he _really_ wished Gabriel was here. "God I dunno… how long I can handle this."

It was possible for a person to die of sheer fright, if their heart gave out or a blood vessel burst under the strain of the wildly pumping blood. Jesse certainly felt like he was on the verge of outright hysterics, and all this hyperventilation couldn’t be good for him.

A warm, strong hand closed around the back of his neck, grip firm enough to pin him in place. It was a hold that Gabriel particularly liked to use on him, as either a punishment or a reward, depending on the context. For one insane moment, Jesse thought his Alpha really had somehow appeared out of thin air.

"Breathe, McCree." It was Genji speaking, but he had the same implacable tone that Gabriel used when giving orders. Firm, bold, and confident that he would be obeyed without question. The voice of an Alpha. "Calm yourself."

Jesse’s Pavlovian response to that grip, combined with the commanding tone, was very nearly enough to break through his panic. But there was no rush of Alpha pheromones backing it up, and without that, he couldn't break the fear cycle of the imaginary Alphas he could smell.

"Nice try," Jesse got out, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears of despair that wanted to leak free. "A plus for effort, but it won't work." At least he wasn't actively flinching away this time, maybe because the touch was so familiar, so close to what he needed it to be.

"Why? What am I missing?" Genji sounded frustrated. "This is exactly what Reyes does. You _must_ calm down, or you're going to hurt yourself."

"N-no scent," Jesse explained, shivering as the next wave of terror struck. "You don't got… the pheromones… enforcing the order. D-don't let go… it _is_ helping, a little." If nothing else, it gave him a point of reference, an anchor against the hallucinations.

There was a soft metallic click, and Genji leaned over him, close enough that Jesse could feel the heat of his cyborg body. When he spoke again his voice was perfectly clear for the first time Jesse had ever heard it, not muffled by the mask. " _Breathe_. I will not allow any harm to befall you. You are protected."

A sudden influx of Alpha pheromones wrapped around the order and turned it into an absolute imperative. The real thing was far more potent than the artificially induced scents, and Jesse obeyed without thought, without question. His breathing slowed, matching Genji's steady in and out rhythm. The frantic flutter of his heart eased as well. A sense of peace and well-being descended over him, not strong enough to combat the drug entirely, but enough to let him catch his breath.

The Alpha had promised to protect him, and a good Alpha always kept their promises. Jesse had no doubt Genji was one of the good ones.

The shocking part was that he was an Alpha at all.

"What the fuck?" Stunned, Jesse opened his eyes to see Genji curled around him in a protective posture, like he was sheltering Jesse from the rest of the world. It was exactly the position Gabriel would have taken in the same situation, though Gabriel would have made a lot more contact instead of hovering an inch away.

Genji's face was exposed, the mask discarded on the ground beside him. The scarring was deep and extensive across the handsome features beneath, but it was the impossible scent that held Jesse captive. How the hell could he have missed the fact that Genji was an Alpha? How could _Gabriel_ have missed it?

ABOs were rare among the general population, so much so that Jesse had only met a handful in his life. Normal people couldn't pick them out of a crowd, unless their dominance behaviour was particularly intense, but they _always_ knew each other. And knew instantly what role any others filled. There was no way to hide, change, or fake their distinctive 'scent', which was actually a mix of scent, pheromones, and other unique hormones.

Right now, Genji's scent was that of an Alpha who was increasingly in distress. He ducked to hide his face against Jesse's hair, nuzzling in what was probably an instinctive move rather than a deliberate one. "Jesse, you must stay calm so I can put the mask back on. Please." His voice was hoarse, his breathing growing rapid and irregular, harsh gulps of air.

Feeling guilty that his teammate was suffering because of Jesse's inability to regulate himself, he concentrated on the scent of that distress as a way to distract himself from his own fear and panic. Grounding an Alpha and helping them deal with sometimes overwhelmingly powerful emotions and instincts was a beta's job, and one that Jesse was very good at. He crooned softly, the oddly harmonic sound normal humans weren't capable of making, and nuzzled against Genji's jaw.

The groan Genji gave in response wasn't a sound of pleasure. It was the low, wretched moan of an animal in desperate pain. Far from helping, Jesse's touch caused a sharp spike in the distress scent. His grip on the back of Jesse's neck squeezed tighter, and he closed the distance between them, clutching at Jesse like a drowning man with a buoy.

Finally Jesse realized what was really happening. "Christ, you ain't had nobody touch you in _years_." The mere thought of it made horror sweep through Jesse that rivalled his initial reaction to the drug. ABOs _needed_ contact with each other, craved it more the longer they went without. There were horror stories of Alphas going into insane killing rages, or betas descending into suicidal despair, when denied for too long.

God, no wonder Genji was so aggressively angry all the damn time, snarling at anyone who crossed him, slaughtering enemies with chilling precision and bloody enthusiasm. It wasn't just the physical pain of his cyborg body, or the emotional pain of his brother's betrayal, like everyone assumed. The man was going slowly crazy from contact withdrawal, and nobody had noticed. Anyone else would have snapped long ago.

"Breathe, Genji," Jesse murmured, echoing the Alpha's command to him in a gentler tone. He wrapped his arms around Genji in turn, clinging just as tight, concentrating as hard as he could on emitting calming pheromones. The croon reverberated in his voice as he spoke. "Draw in my scent, as much as you can. Take what you need."

"Don't…" Genji's voice was so harsh it was difficult to understand the words. "Don't promise what you won't deliver. I can't… can't… control myself…"

"Touch-starved don't begin to describe this. You're literally dyin' for it." Jesse stroked the other man's back, and made a sound of frustration when he encountered only metal. He shifted his touch to Genji's left shoulder and arm, making contact with what little skin remained, all the while nuzzling against the side of Genji's neck where flesh met the metal of his throat. "I'm right here. I ain't lettin' go."

With an agonized sound, Genji gave in to his frenzied need, turning to nuzzle along Jesse's jaw in turn. Tipping his head, Jesse gave the Alpha better access, along with tacit permission. Strong teeth closed over the pulse point in his throat, a silent threat that Jesse knew would never be carried out, demanding his submission.

Shivering with desire, Jesse complied, his body going boneless and pliant beneath Genji's. That earned him a pleased growl in response, and Genji's free hand moved to the straps that held Jesse's chest armour in place, tearing at the buckles, struggling to get more skin contact.

Since more contact would further help Jesse fight the effects of the drug, he moved eagerly to help. Somehow in the process of getting his armour and shirt off, they ended up kissing, Genji's tongue sweeping out to dominate Jesse's in heated demand. Jesse kissed back just as fervent, just as needy, hips rocking up to meet the metal thigh pressed against him.

There was no thought, no conscious awareness, just heat and desire and frantic need. Genji shifted so his whole body pinned Jesse's, right hand locked in a literally steel grip around both of Jesse's wrists, stretching them up over his head. That freed Genji's flesh hand to roam over Jesse's chest, exploring the curves of muscle, stroking through the thatch of hair with a curious touch.

Betting was heavy among Blackwatch agents on whether Genji had anything remaining south of the beltline, but the way he ground his metal groin against Jesse's hip suggested he got _some_ pleasure out of the contact. God knew Jesse certainly did. His hips bucked up insistently, driving the length of his aching cock against Genji's leg, over and over. 

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this hot for it, needed to come so badly. Part of that was his reaction to Genji's urgent arousal, part of it due to the way the drug was ramping up his reactions to everything, but part of it was sheer desire. 

He’d always thought Genji was gorgeous, if rather brooding. Jesse was loyal to Gabriel, but he was allowed to look - and fantasize. This was damn near one of those fantasies come true.

Finally Jesse couldn't hold back any longer, and he came with a wrenching cry as it felt like he literally exploded. Genji groaned, and his rhythm grew erratic, before he shuddered hard and came to rest against Jesse, panting.

The metal body was heavy as fuck, but Jesse revelled in the feel of it pressing him to the ground, covering and sheltering him. After a long moment, Genji released his hands, and Jesse wrapped his arms around Genji's back. He wasn't sure if the other man could feel anything through the flexible shell that protected his badly burned torso, so he shifted one hand up, past the wires and tubes dangling from Genji's headgear and artificial spine, to bury his fingers in the other man's hair.

Genji's breathing was harsher than ever, chest rising and falling far too rapidly. Belatedly, Jesse remembered there was a damn good reason that his teammate never uncovered his face. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, concerned.

Groaning, Genji rolled to one side. Bereft at the loss of that comforting weight, Jesse went with him, snuggling against the ninja's chest. Genji's left hand tangled in Jesse's hair, holding him close, even as the other man shuddered. "Reyes is going to kill us both."

Flinching, Jesse squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah, trying not to think 'bout that quite yet. And it's not what I meant." Opening his eyes again, he patted around on the ground beside them until his fingers brushed metal, then passed the mask up to Genji.

Genji slotted the mask back into place, and Jesse heard a soft whoosh as the oxygen system engaged. Immediately the cyborg’s breathing eased, even as the hand in Jesse's hair fisted tighter to keep him from pulling away. Most of the 'Alpha scent' disappeared as soon as the mask was back in place.

Not all of it. Quite a bit lingered, now ground into Jesse's skin, mingling with his own. A shower would mute the effect, but it wouldn't fully be gone for days. There was zero chance he'd be able to hide it from Gabriel.

Jesse would never try to lie to his Alpha, even if the bond hadn't prevented that entirely. But he did wish he'd be able to have the conversation _after_ he was no longer covered in another Alpha's scent, because that was going to enrage Gabriel's instincts. His Alpha _was_ one of the good ones, truly. But the damn supersoldier enhancements meant he had a nasty temper, even for an Alpha, and he could be viciously possessive of Jesse.

At least now Jesse understood how they could have missed the fact that Genji was one of them. The primary 'scent' gland was in their throat, and Genji's had been destroyed in his brother's attack. Of course Mercy wouldn't have built him an artificial one, probably wouldn't even have realized it had been there in the first place. There were secondary glands, so Genji hadn't lost the scent entirely, but it was all on his breath rather than emanating from his skin - and with the mask on, his breath didn't reach them.

"Did you know?" Jesse asked, trying to get a sense of how bad this clusterfuck really was. "That you were an Alpha? Why didn't you tell us? If we'd known, we coulda kept your touch hunger from gettin' so bad."

"I’ve suspected for some time now," Genji admitted, still rough but not as breathless. "Watching the two of you, especially Reyes, I recognized some truths about myself. But it was clear you couldn't tell, and since I can’t smell either of you, I don’t have trouble interacting with Reyes as another Alpha. I didn't want to risk him removing me from the team to avoid potential dominance conflicts."

That was a consideration, Jesse had to admit. Alphas working together was always a dicey prospect, though with Genji's unique circumstances it was less of a problem than most. At least, it would have been, until he'd gotten his scent all over Gabriel's bonded beta.

"We gotta tell him." As little as Jesse wanted to have that conversation, it _would_ happen. "Might be best to let me do the talkin', though."

Genji's hand clenched, tight enough to pull hard at Jesse's hair, before he appeared to deliberately relax. "I would not lie to him. But I also will not let you bear the brunt of the blame, McCree. I will take responsibility for my actions."

Jesse bit his tongue on a protest against the return to 'McCree'. He'd been trying for years to get Genji to loosen up and call him by given name, but he understood why the man felt a need to put distance between them now.

Emotional distance, anyway. There was still absolutely no physical distance, and it didn't seem like Genji was going to let go any time soon. One frenetic bout of humping wasn't going to ease years' worth of touch starvation, and Jesse couldn't bring himself to pull away a moment before he had to. Even knowing it was going to make the scent issue worse, he couldn't turn his back on the hurting Alpha.

Yeah. Clusterfuck didn’t begin to describe the likely fallout of this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fudging of the timeline; Genji's fight with Hanzo happened several years earlier in this universe.

Gabriel knew there was trouble the moment Jesse walked into his office. His beta's shoulders were slumped, hat pulled low to shade his expression, and he had a particular hangdog look in his eyes that meant he knew he was about to get into deep shit. Behind him, Genji's movements were uncharacteristically stiff, his chin up and eyes defiant as always, but with a hint of apology beneath the rebellion.

Then the scent hit him, and Gabriel was on his feet with a growl before his conscious mind caught up to his instincts. Jesse was covered in the scent of another Alpha, the stench of it harsh to Gabriel's senses, like sandpaper scraping the inside of his nose raw.

" _What the fuck_ ," Gabe snarled, all but vibrating with rage. His first thought was that Jesse had been hurt, raped by some dominating asshole, and his hands itched with the need to tear the bastard’s face off for harming his beta.

Except Jesse’s body language was all wrong for that. He looked guilty, not traumatized. It was possible that old thought patterns were kicking in and he believed he’d somehow ‘asked’ for it, that it was his own fault he’d been raped. Years of therapy and Gabriel’s constant reassurance had mostly gotten the younger man past that kind of victim shame attitude, but it could crop up at unexpected times.

There were definite traces of the acrid odour of panic lingering in Jesse’s scent, which seemed to bear out the theory. Genji’s expression could be an apology that he hadn’t been able to protect his teammate from being hurt. And yet as Gabriel stalked toward the two, there was _still_ nothing but guilt in his beta’s eyes, and not even a hint of pain scent along with the panic.

"Now don't go off in a tear before you hear the whole story," Jesse said, the words rushed like he was trying to get them out before Gabe exploded. He raised his hands as if in surrender, pouring out as many calming pheromones as a beta could, but that only made Gabriel all the more aware of the scent that _shouldn't_ be there.

Gabe crowded Jesse back against the wall, one hand loosely around the man’s throat to pin his misbehaving beta in place. He was increasingly certain that whatever had happened, Jesse had for some ungodly reason been a willing participant in it. 

Which made _no_ sense. Jesse was loyal to Gabe, one hundred percent. More than that, he knew exactly how uncertain Gabriel’s control of his Alpha instincts could be, and how much danger there was that this could tip him over the edge into unthinking rage. "Explain. Fast," he ordered, glancing between the two of them.

Genji’s tone was even flatter than usual as he reported. "We confirmed that the weapons lab is manufacturing illegal nerve toxins. Unfortunately, we did so through first hand experience. McCree was… badly distraught."

"I was fuckin' terrified, is what he means," Jesse put in. He kept his eyes down, not challenging Gabriel - for a beta he was unusually defiant by nature, but for once he had enough sense not to push the limits. "Nearly panicked my way right into a heart attack. Genji tried to calm me down other ways, but the only thing that was gonna cut it was an Alpha I trusted tellin' me I was safe."

"McCree said the scent was needed," Genji agreed, subdued. Even so, he kept his head up, refusing to bow as Jesse had. "I feared he would harm himself, and I didn't know what else to do."

“Are you saying you’re a fucking Alpha?” Gabriel stared at him, building rage momentarily diverted by shock and disbelief. “This is _your_ scent? That’s impossible. I’d smell you right now, and I don’t.”

Lifting a hand, Genji tapped his cybernetic throat, metal finger ringing faintly against metal flesh. “Apparently, because of my injuries, I don’t give off the scent except through my breath. I had to remove the mask to calm McCree.”

Gabriel struggled against his instincts, which were conflicting with each other. On the one hand, Jesse was _his_ to protect and comfort, and for another Alpha to dare to take that privilege for themselves was all but a direct challenge. On the other hand, Gabriel hadn't been there for Jesse, and that was his failing; he was grateful someone had been able to soothe the frantic beta.

Taking a deep breath - which proved to be a mistake, because it filled his nose with the mingled scent again - Gabriel glared at Genji. "Setting aside for the moment the fact that you neglected to ever mention being an Alpha… and make no mistake, we'll be getting back to that… you comforting him does not explain the extent of your scent all over him."

 _Both_ of them blushed, which was something Gabe never expected to see on Genji. The flush was hot enough to be visible above the mask, in the scarred skin around his eyes. That pretty much told Gabriel everything he needed to know; sex had definitely been involved. He snarled again, hand squeezing on Jesse's shoulder until the beta gave a grunt of protest.

That made anger flash through Genji's eyes. "Commander, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I will accept the consequences. But McCree was not acting of his own volition. Aim your anger where it belongs, at me and not him."

"Gabe," Jesse said, soft but urgent. A pleading croon vibrated in his voice. "Please, listen. _Think_. He _didn't know_ he was an Alpha. He still doesn't really understand what that means. In all the time he's been with us, have you ever seen anyone touch him?"

Gabriel didn't want to think. He didn't want to be rational and reasonable. He especially did not want to consider anything that might mean he had to forgive Genji for daring to touch his beta.

But the last words made it through the haze of his anger. During the Omnic Crisis, Gabriel had once spent months pinned down in a bunker by an overwhelming force. As it happened, he'd been the only ABO present. 

By the time reinforcements managed to liberate their beleaguered unit, Gabriel was ready to claw his own skin off to make his nerves stop buzzing with the need for touch. He’d been on the verge of making a suicide run against the enemy, to ensure he didn’t snap and go into one of the legendary Alpha killing rages against his own people.

How would it feel to go years in that state? Not understanding what was causing the overwhelming craving? The only thing that saved Genji's sanity might be the fact that he didn't _have_ much body anymore.

Stepping back, Gabriel eased up his grip on Jesse, and turned his attention fully on Genji. "That true? You didn't know what you are?"

"I have suspected for some time now, but I did not know." There was nothing but brutal honesty in Genji's eyes. "Seeing the two of you together gave me context for… some of the dynamics in my family."

It was possible. ABOs didn't fully manifest until puberty, often very late puberty. It ran in families, and usually the ABO parent was watching for the signs and would explain what was happening to the children. But if Genji's Alpha parent hadn't been available for whatever reason, and he and Hanzo both manifested as Alphas, the resulting unconscious and instinctive dominance struggle would explain the devastating battle between the brothers.

"Take off the mask." Gabe needed to smell the other Alpha for himself, check the scent to see if there were lies he could detect.

Genji tensed. "Commander, I do not think that would be wise. Surely my scent would only further aggravate you."

Gabriel scowled. He was already pushed too close to the breaking point, and being argued with had him trembling on the edge. "Take. It. _Off_."

He saw the flash of defiance in Genji's eyes, the moment of hesitation as Alpha instincts tried to reject the idea of someone giving him an order. Then Genji nodded sharply, and reached up to grip his mask.

Gabriel caught the younger man's wrist, stopping him from removing it just yet. "When I give you an order, you consciously _choose_ to obey me, don't you. Every time." He'd seen that instant of hesitation before, but hadn't understood what it meant.

"Yes." Genji's tone said he thought Gabriel’s intelligence was questionable, for needing to ask. The unspoken 'obviously' at the end rang louder than the actual words.

"That's Alpha behaviour," Gabe informed Genji with dark humour. "Normal humans don't have to think about it each time. So why _do_ you obey? This isn't the first order I've ever given that you strongly disagreed with."

Again, Genji looked at him like Gabe was crazy. "You are my commanding officer. I respect you, and your authority. You have every right to give me orders, whether I like it or not. We are more than creatures of instinct."

"Plenty of Alphas never manage to learn that particular lesson. That's why we've got a reputation for not being able to work with each other," Gabriel replied, his voice dry as he thought of a few other subordinates over the years who had failed that particular test. 

Alphas were attracted to the military as an outlet for their aggression, but didn't always serve well under each other. Or even under normal humans, if the Alpha was too arrogant. Hell, Gabriel struggled with the issue himself, since Jack had been promoted over him to head of Overwatch. 

Interesting that Genji _was_ able to handle it - usually that meant the ABO parent was a powerful Alpha, and so the child learned to bow to authority when necessary, at least until they became a full-fledged adult. But if that was the case, it again raised the question of why Genji hadn't known what he was before this. It also meant his battle of wills with Hanzo had been at least partly a conscious rejection of his older brother's right to command him, not entirely instinctive.

Genji's gaze darkened. "My desire to be on this team is more important to me than my distaste for following orders. That is still true. I swear to you, Commander. I did not intend to challenge your authority, or your claim on J… McCree."

The slip, implying greater intimacy between Genji and Jesse than had ever been present before, made Gabe growl again. But he decided to let it slide. Releasing Jesse, he gave his beta a nudge toward the door. "Jesse, get out."

Both Genji and Jesse went tense, but it was Genji who objected. "Commander, _please_ do not be upset with him. This is on me."

"I'm not mad at him," Gabriel assured them. "No matter how much I want to be. You're right, we're better than our instincts. But I think this is a conversation you and I should have in private, if you're actually this clueless about what's going on."

Jesse relaxed, and gave Gabriel the startlingly sweet smile that had won Gabriel’s heart and started the bond between them in the first place. "Knew I could count on you, darlin’. Once you got over the desire to rip his throat out, anyway." He nuzzled in close, kissing Gabriel's jaw with a happy little hum of a contented beta.

The rather domestic moment brought a hint of agonized longing into Genji's eyes, but he shuttered the reaction away quickly. So quickly that Gabriel wondered how many other such flashes of emotion he might have missed in the past.

Fuck, of _course_ Genji was lonely. He'd be aching with it even if he was a normal human. Everyone had been giving him the space he seemed to want, Gabriel included, but now he realized that had been a mistake.

As soon as Jesse was gone, Gabriel stepped out of arm's reach, to show that he intended no threat. "Now. Take it off."

Sighing, Genji removed the mask. Immediately a stew of conflicting scents hit Gabriel. Confusion, wariness, aggression, dismay. Every one of them stamped with the unmistakable mark of an Alpha. Yet the scents were fainter than he'd have expected from this close, with this much emotion involved.

As a test, Gabe let go of some of his own control, allowing his anger and aggression to ramp up in a way that would affect his scent. Genji's nostrils flared, and his fists clenched as he visibly resisted the urge to respond in kind. His control was amazing even for someone who knew exactly what he was and how to fight the instincts. How could it possibly be that good if he'd had no clue what he was doing?

"Tell me again that you didn't know you were ABO," Gabe commanded.

"I did not know," Genji repeated, and there was no indication of a lie in his voice, scent, or expression. And wow, was he ever expressive without the mask in the way. Maybe he'd stopped bothering with a poker face because he hadn't needed it. 

Or perhaps he’d always been this way, and the mask stopped the rest of them from realizing how sensitive the taciturn ninja really was.

"This is insane," Gabriel muttered, backing off further and getting his anger under wraps again. It was harder than it should have been. Partly because he was still feeling aggressive about Jesse, but it was also partly anger on Genji's behalf, for a bewildered young Alpha left to suffer. "Under any other circumstances, there's no way you could have made it this far into your adult life without _somebody_ scenting you. But… hell, you were still a teenager when you came to Overwatch, weren't you?"

"Nineteen," Genji confirmed. "Looking back with the benefit of this knowledge, I can see definite signs of it in my life earlier." There was a deep, dark anger lurking in his eyes, putting an edge in his voice and in his scent. Gabriel didn't need three guesses to figure it was probably something to do with his brother Hanzo.

"Late teens is usually when an ABO fully manifests, though it begins subtly long before that." Which again, made sense with the timing of his fight with his brother. Genji coming into his own as an Alpha would have set him harshly at odds with Hanzo trying to order him around.

Turning, Gabriel deliberately put his back to Genji and walked over to the window of his office, staring out. The move could be seen as a power play, saying that he didn't view Genji as enough of a threat to worry about, but he intended it as a gesture of trust. Besides, he could still see the kid in the reflection of the window.

And in that moment, Genji did look like a kid. It was easy sometimes for Gabriel to forget that Genji was even younger than Jesse. Life had hardened him, made him mature beyond his years, but with the mask off he was barely more than a boy in Gabriel's eyes.

The reminder helped calm Gabe further. Alpha Genji might be, but he was also under Gabriel's protection. Part of that meant teaching him how to be what he was.

"All right. Here's the deal." Turning back, Gabe braced his hands on the surface of his desk and leaned forward. "I'm not kicking you off the team."

Some of the tension drained from Genji's stance, and he dipped his head in an abbreviated bow. "Thank you, Commander. That means a great deal to me."

"We're not done yet," Gabriel warned him. "There's conditions. First, you don't get any slack about not obeying me just because I know your instincts are telling you not to. In fact, you now get zero tolerance on that front. Disobey, and I'll take that as the challenge it is, and you _will_ be gone. Understand?"

The struggle not to argue was written all over Genji's expression. He settled on saying, "I'm not going to stop speaking up if I think you're ordering us to do something stupid."

Gabriel laughed, short and harsh. "Oh, you can tell me off all you want. I expect nothing less from this group. If I wanted mindless automatons, I'd have recruited my team from among the loyal, dedicated grunts, not the misfits. As long as you jump the instant I put my foot down. Can you agree to that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I'd fucking hate to lose you." Gabriel gave him a thin smile. "You're the best stealth and recon agent I've ever worked with, bar none." 

Startled pride shone in Genji's eyes. It wasn’t the first time Gabriel had seen him surprised by praise, as if unused to receiving it. Which made no sense, given his stellar skills. Who had trained him, and why had they utterly neglected any positive encouragement?

They had enough on their plate to worry about at the moment, so Gabriel set that thought aside for later consideration. "Second rule. You will keep it in your goddamn pants. If I ever catch your scent marking Jesse like that again, you won't just be off the team, you'll be dead. Hear me?"

"Yes, sir." The pride was gone, and Genji sounded subdued again. "I will never touch him again."

"Now, that's exactly where you're wrong," Gabe told him. Genji cocked his head, confused. "This shitstorm came about largely because you've been touch starving yourself, and I'm not letting it continue. ABOs need contact with each other, preferably lots of it."

"You just said I wasn't to get my scent on him," Genji objected, brow creased.

"I said you aren't to mark him like that," Gabe corrected. "Touch doesn't have to be sexual. There's all these dirty rumours about ABO orgies and crap because of the way we're so often in contact, and how we tend to sleep in a pile when we can. I won't say it's _never_ an orgy," he added with a wry grin. "But the sex is a side benefit, not the point. Touch allows us to balance one another. Betas can soothe the aggression out of an Alpha, even one they're not bonded to. In turn, an Alpha gives a beta strength and encouragement. They steady each other, cancel out the other one's emotional extremes."

"I have seen that happen between you and McCree," Genji agreed, thoughtful. "But how does that apply in a pile? As you said, two Alphas can rarely get along that well, and I’d think would not be willing to share their betas with one another."

"Most Alphas and betas aren't bonded," Gabe reminded him. "The kind of bond Jesse and I have is incredibly rare, and a large part of what makes me so possessive over him. But you're right, it's usually a bunch of betas with maybe one Alpha. Betas together still steady each other, keep themselves from sliding into the depths of emotional darkness, but it's better with at least one Alpha. Likewise, two Alphas who respect each other and aren't constantly battling for dominance can also be together. You've said that you acknowledge my authority. I'm taking you at your word."

"There are more betas in the world than Alphas?" Genji guessed.

"About three times as many born that way as Alphas, but they've also got much higher expected lifespans." Gabriel shrugged. "Alphas have a bad habit of doing stupid shit that gets us killed young. So yeah, there's a lot more of them around than us. Point is, I'm giving you permission to be in contact with Jesse and me. In fact, I'm ordering you to do so. At least a few times a month you will sleep with one or both of us, with as much skin-to-skin contact as you're capable of."

A glint of gallows humour ran through Genji's expression. "You said to keep it in my pants. That's a decent percentage of what exposed flesh I have left."

Snorting, Gabriel smirked back at him. "All right, _almost_ as much as you're capable of. Mask off when you do. You need the scent as well as the touch." Eyeing the way Genji's chest was already heaving, just this side of outright panting, he grimaced. "For as long as you can stand to leave it off without hurting yourself, anyway. And you never take it off if it's just the two of you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Moving around his desk, Gabriel closed the distance between them, coming much farther into Genji's personal space than he would normally do. He watched as Genji tensed, scented the swell of aggression from the other Alpha, but the younger man remained still.

At least, until Gabriel reached out and braced his hands on Genji's shoulders, making sure to get as much skin contact as possible on the left. Genji jerked forward before freezing, as if he'd been about to lunge at Gabe and stopped himself; a move born of longing, not aggression. He made a sound that was halfway between a growl of frustration and a whimper of need.

Yeah, touch-starved didn't begin to cover it. Not if he was still so desperate even after that much contact with Jesse, _intimate_ contact. Because while sex wasn't necessarily a part of touch for ABOs, it was a much more intense form of it. What they'd done should have been more than enough to sate any normal amount of contact hunger. Only Genji's incredible ability to push himself through pain, honed by the constant agony of his cyborg body, had kept the kid from utterly losing his mind.

Sighing, Gabriel took the last step, enfolding Genji in his arms. He turned so they had their sides to the wall, rather than pinning Genji against it, because that would be a step too far and the Alpha in Genji would have to retaliate. This way, they were in a more or less equal position.

For a long moment Genji stood shaking in his grasp, clearly torn. Finally his hands crept up to fist in the back of Gabe's shirt, and he buried his face against Gabe's shoulder, trying to hide the way he was drawing in great gasps of air to get as much of the scent as possible.

"I've got you, kid." Gabriel held rock steady, letting Genji lean on him for support as the younger man clung. "I'll teach you what you need to know, and help keep you on an even keel while you learn. You're going to be one hell of an Alpha."

And Gabe would be proud as any parent when that day came. The only trick was making sure he didn’t become jealous of the younger, stronger Alpha. For all that Genji had agreed to submit to Gabriel's authority, there was no doubt that the younger man's willpower was far greater than his. Gabriel could never have lasted half that long with no contact at all. Where Alphas were concerned, willpower was far more important than physical strength.

Gabriel had to make sure his own instincts and insecurity wouldn't drive him to stunt Genji's growth somewhere along the way, to keep himself stronger. Because they might be more than their instincts, but not always. 

And for Gabriel, that was more of a danger than for most.


	3. Chapter 3

Though Reyes made it clear that he expected Genji to join the other two ABOs regularly for sleep, Genji put it off as long as he could. He already felt _so_ much better, more clear-headed and level... not to mention in so much less pain. 

It turned out that a shocking amount of the agony he lived with daily, which he had attributed to his cyborg body and phantom pain from the missing limbs, had in fact been the craving for touch. Not all of it, but enough that it felt like he could take a full breath for the first time in years.

Surely he didn't need to spend whole nights with them. He could obviously go much longer than a normal ABO without contact. Whether that was simply a question of his willpower, a function of the fact that he had so little skin _left_ , or due to the way he was accustomed to living and working through pain, it didn't matter. 

He still blushed every time he looked at McCree, not comfortable with what had happened between them. Genji wasn't a prude, but this was definitely the first time he'd ever had sex with no intention of doing so. He didn't regret it exactly, and he certainly didn't blame McCree, but it made things awkward. 

More than that, the thought of crawling into bed with his commanding officer was weirding him out... and knowing he would remove the mask only to get hit in the face with Reyes' scent all over McCree, rubbing in the fact that the two of them had just had sex, was distinctly unappealing.

Maybe that was Alpha instincts talking. Maybe it was a forbidden fruit problem; having been told in no uncertain terms that he could never have McCree that way again, suddenly he wanted it badly, even though he’d resisted his attraction to his teammate for years. Maybe it was as simple as the fact that chastity had not been something Genji suffered from before losing his body, and now he'd been reminded how good sex could feel.

Nor could he go out and satisfy the urge with anyone else. To say that Genji had trust issues was putting it mildly, and massive self image issues on top of that. He hated his cyborg body, found it repulsive, and it was beyond him how anyone else could think differently. If someone claimed otherwise, he was instantly suspicious of their true motives, and turned off by the very fact that they could want him. 

McCree was an exception, because Genji already trusted his teammate with his life. He still thought the man was insane for having any interest in him, but perhaps it was only instinct driving the beta. 

Two weeks after The Incident, as Genji had started to think of it, he could tell that Reyes was growing impatient with him. The Commander kept giving him pointed looks, and had dropped a reminder in the briefing that morning that disobedience would not be tolerated - Genji knew it had really been a comment about the contact thing, because he certainly hadn't disobeyed any orders in the field lately.

About an hour before they would usually retire for the night, McCree drifted by and casually dropped a hand to Genji's left shoulder, squeezing. He'd been less shy about invading Genji's personal space since The Incident, brushing against him or bumping him with a friendly hip or shoulder, but this was the first time he'd made skin-to-skin contact. The effect wasn't anywhere near as electrifying as it had been that first time, but there was a little shock that ran through Genji at the contact, and he felt himself relax. 

"K'so," he muttered under his breath. So much for thinking he could argue Reyes into reducing the frequency for the ordered contact based on the fact that Genji didn't need it. He hadn't realized the craving was already building, unable to tell it apart from the pain of his body. That meant there was no way he could safely gauge when he _did_ require it, so he was going to have to follow Reyes' established guidelines. 

"You're pushin' your luck," McCree informed him. "With Reyes, but also with yourself. Believe me, I know. Used to try to go as long without as I could, too, until Gabe finally earned my trust once and for all."

That surprised Genji. McCree always seemed so at ease with what he was, embracing the beta side of his personality with casual acceptance. He certainly had never hesitated to touch Reyes that Genji ever noticed, though admittedly the bond had been established before Genji joined their team. "Why did you avoid touch?"

McCree's friendly smile took on a sharp edge, and there was a darkness in his eyes that Genji usually only saw when the man was gunning down their enemies. "I didn't exactly have a gentle introduction to bein' a beta. Gabriel wasn't the first Alpha I ever met, and I had a few issues with bein' touched. Let's just leave it at that."

A low growl resonated in Genji's chest, fierce enough that he could feel it in his ribs. "I hope whoever hurt you is very dead, or at least suffering appropriately." He knew such things happened, Alphas taking advantage of their dominance to abuse any beta unfortunate enough to cross their path, but it had never occurred to him that it might have happened to McCree. 

If the asshole or assholes weren't already dead, Genji might be tempted to track them down and teach the bastards a lesson, on behalf of his teammate. But he had no doubt Reyes would have already taken care of it.

McCree looked surprised, then pleased by Genji leaping to his defence. "Been worm food for years, now. Ain't nobody touched me against my will since Gabriel brought me to Blackwatch. Just took me a while to believe that was really gonna be the way of things, and he wasn't tryin' to get me off guard."

A horrible thought struck Genji, and his heart stuttered in his chest. "Nobody until me." He'd been so wrapped up in the shock of discovery and all the fallout from what had happened between them, it hadn't even occurred to him that he'd essentially forced himself on the other man. He felt sick. "Fuck, McCree, I..."

"Hey, now." McCree's voice was sharp, and he squeezed Genji's shoulder hard. "It ain't at all the same thing, and you'd better believe I know the fuckin' difference. We were both in bad shape and not thinkin' straight, but I knew what I was doin'. I mean, yeah, I prob'ly wouldn't've taken it that far if I'd been in better control, but I don't regret it, and I sure as hell don't blame you. So get those thoughts right outta your head, because otherwise it feels an awful lot like you pitying me. And you already promised you don't do that."

It wasn't pity... no, he was right, there was some pity involved, thinking of McCree as a victim. Genji felt appropriately ashamed of himself. "Sorry."

"S'all good." McCree squeezed once more, then patted him on the shoulder and let go. "You gonna come in with us tonight, then? 'Cause you know when he said a couple times a month, he meant every week or so, not pushing it as far out as possible."

"I know." Genji's fists clenched, and he bit back another snarl that wanted to tear free. "It's only... damn it, I really have no interest in climbing into the bed you both just had sex in, then wallowing in the scent of it."

McCree's eyes went wide, and he blushed. "Ah, hell. I didn't even think of that. Bet Gabe didn't either. Crap, darlin', it's my turn to apologize."

"Can't we just... do this?" Genji gestured at his shoulder, meaning the way McCree had been touching him before. "I don't know, curl up and watch a movie together every so often, or something like that."

"We can and should do that too, if you're willin', but it ain't that simple." McCree sighed, and raked a hand through his hair, bare of the cowboy hat for once. "There's different levels of contact. When we sleep, that's when we let our guard down the most. Havin' a beta there will let you do that better, help refresh you more. It's the most important kind of touch. Lemme think on it, okay? We'll come up with something."

Dismayed, Genji nodded. He was certain that 'I'll think about it' from McCree meant 'I'll talk it over with Reyes', but there was nothing he could do about that. In the end, it was Reyes' decision anyway.

Sure enough, half an hour later Reyes cornered him as he was heading for his quarters. The older man looked uncharacteristically abashed. "Genji. Damn it, I'm sorry. I didn't even consider the potential problems of you coming in with us. It's not only the sex issue, though that's part of it. My room will be saturated in my scent, and not only will you feel uncomfortable in it, I'll probably get subconsciously pissy that your scent is invading it."

"I thought you said Alphas can sleep together as long as they respect each other?" This was getting more and more complicated, and Genji was starting to think it really wasn't worth it. Surely cuddling up to McCree once in a while would solve the problem enough to let him handle it, even if it wasn't ideal. 

"Yeah, in general, but territory's another issue. Would you want me going into your quarters?" Reyes smiled wryly when Genji's answer was an involuntary snarl at the thought. "So here's the compromise. We set specific nights for this, and we'll sleep in Jesse’s bed. He and I will be sure to shower off before coming in to join you."

"I would not be comfortable being in McCree’s quarters, let alone in his bed, while he is not present," Genji objected. He knew McCree spent his nights in with Reyes, but his quarters were still where all his personal belongings were kept. "It would be better for me to join you, rather than the other way around."

Reyes frowned, but nodded. "So long as you get at least five solid hours in with us. And we start tonight."

So much for hoping he could get away with not joining them until it was practically time to get up. There was no getting out of it, now. "Yes, Commander."

Satisfied by the capitulation, Reyes patted him on the shoulder and continued on down the hall to his own quarters. The touch irritated Genji, feeling like he was being treated like a small child who'd given the right answer - but it also carried that same small shock of contact, as McCree’s had earlier. Try though he might, Genji couldn't deny that he did apparently _need_ this.

In his own quarters, he hooked himself up to the various machines that would deal with the waste products from his body, and replenish his fuel and nutrient reserves. He could go a few days without, but doing it every night meant he only needed to spend an hour or so plugged in, and could then lie down to sleep. Tonight it gave him the perfect excuse to linger, listening for sounds from down the hall.

The soundproofing in their quarters was excellent, but not so good that Genji couldn't hear it when McCree shouted in pleasure. It was a familiar sound, one he usually tuned out with the ease of practice, but tonight it grated on his nerves. Eventually he heard the faint rush of water in the pipes as the other two showered, then nothing.

Still Genji waited, as long as he dared, hoping the others would be asleep when he joined them. This was going to be more than awkward enough without them watching and waiting for him. Finally he rose, knowing if he waited much longer, he wouldn't be able to get the full five hours Reyes had demanded.

Padding his way down the hall, Genji eased open McCree's door. It swung smoothly, with no sound or resistance. Reyes and McCree sprawled out over the beta's bed, Reyes on his back with McCree tucked up against his side, head on his Alpha's shoulder. The covers were shoved down to their waists, making it clear they weren't wearing much, if anything at all. Genji grimaced, hoping they at least had briefs or boxers on.

He'd already shed as much of his armour as he could in his room, leaving more of his scarred and burned torso bare than usual. The groin plate remained in place, but everything else that could be exposed was. Lifting a corner of the covers, Genji slipped beneath and reluctantly curled up against McCree's back. As it turned out, McCree was indeed wearing boxers, though Genji was fairly certain Reyes wasn't. He wasn't sure if that was meant to be some kind of power play from the Alpha, or just personal preference.

The bed was generous for military quarters, but too small for three people, especially when one was as big as Reyes. Genji was forced into very close contact, not just brushing against McCree as he'd hoped. Giving way to the inevitable, he wrapped his arm around McCree's waist and huddled in close.

Warmth radiated from the beta, and it seemed to seep slowly through Genji's entire body, soothing as it went. He felt his muscles relaxing, centimeter by centimeter. When he reached up to pull off his mask, the mingled scents washed over him as well, enhancing the effect. It was shockingly pleasant - literally, tiny licks of lightning flaring through his nerves, leaving lassitude in their wake. 

Hiding his face against McCree's shoulder, Genji breathed as slow and deep as his damaged lungs would allow, drawing in the scent. It was addicting, and made him painfully aware of how badly he _wanted_ this. It wasn't at the level of desperate ‘need’, not even close to what it had been previously, but 'want' could be nearly as powerful.

The combination of scent and warmth and touch pulled old memories forward. His family used to sleep like this, with Hanzo and Genji tucked between their mother and father, all of them on one futon. He remembered hearing other children complaining about their bedtimes, and being unable to understand why. When he'd learned that other children didn't sleep with their parents, he'd been dismayed on their behalf that they missed out on something so wonderful.

Once, a bully tried to pick on Genji by making fun of the fact that he slept with his parents 'like a baby'. Just once. Really, Genji had no idea why the teachers had been so upset and freaked out; he’d only broken the bully’s arm. It wasn't like the boy had been permanently maimed.

Then Genji's mother died, and their father turned cold and harsh, all the love in him buried with his lost wife. There was no more family bedtime, but Hanzo and Genji had continued cuddling together, each taking what comfort they could in the presence of the other. They would sneak into each other's rooms, making a game of it by trying to catch the other by surprise, though they rarely succeeded. 

Gods, he'd all but forgotten how close-knit he and Hanzo used to be, before everything started to go wrong. The joyful memories of loving his brother, and knowing he was loved in return, had been lost beneath all the hatred and recriminations between them as teens. When had the bitterness started? What had happened to tear them apart?

Actually, it had begun right around when they'd stopped sleeping together. Genji was thirteen, Hanzo just turned sixteen. Puberty had been making things awkward for them in the mornings, but they'd learned to work around it, with Hanzo slipping away to the bathing rooms while Genji drowsed a little longer. 

Then Genji started waking with his cock hard in the mornings, adding to the embarrassment factor - until Genji had declared that it was stupid for either of them to care. It was a natural thing, and they were both boys, so what did it matter?

For a while they'd jerked off in front of each other, shy at first but growing quickly bolder. Hanzo had even shown Genji a couple of tricks he'd learned to make it feel better. As they grew more comfortable, they'd forgotten to hush themselves, and finally their father caught them at it.

Never before or since had Genji seen his father so angry and upset. Sojiro hauled them both out into the private courtyard, buck naked, and flogged them with a bamboo bokken. There had been a long lecture about the natural order of things and shame on the Shimada family name, which Genji barely remembered through the pain and tears and heartbreaking loss of knowing he would be sleeping alone from then on.

Things had changed between the brothers after that. Their father worked them both harder than ever, and made sure they had no time to be together, even during the day. He'd made it clear that he viewed Genji in particular as a failure, never accepting any effort his younger son made as 'enough'. 

Finally Genji stopped trying, instead launching his campaign of rebellion against the Shimada-gumi and everything they stood for. Meanwhile Hanzo began to follow their father's lead somewhere along the way, treating Genji like a pariah, unworthy of his time and attention.

Genji was now certain his father had been an Alpha. He recognized the same sort of dominance traits he frequently saw in Reyes, which he’d previously written off as being an effect of commanding others. Hanzo must surely be as well, and that explained why he and Genji had begun to squabble, then fight in earnest. They'd been engaged in a dominance struggle without even knowing it.

Why hadn't their father taught them, as Reyes now taught Genji? Had Sojiro not known what he was, either? Could this whole disastrous mess have been avoided if someone had simply sat them all down and explained how to work through their instincts without fighting each other?

For that matter, if Genji hadn't encouraged Hanzo to relax and stop being embarrassed, if they'd continued slinking off in shame each morning when they woke hard, would they have stayed close? Presumably they hadn't been suffering from touch starvation as teens, having not yet truly manifested, but clearly there was an urge for closeness, though not a necessity, even at a younger age.

Hell, all the bed-hopping Genji had done as an older teen had at least partly been an unconscious search for someone else who could provide that feeling, the sense of safety and comfort and _belonging_ that he'd lost. This, here with McCree and Reyes, was by far the closest he'd ever come. It felt good, like something inside him relaxed out of a painful knot for the first time in years, but it also hurt.

An icy hand gripped Genji's heart and squeezed hard. He hadn't had contact with another ABO since he'd stopped sleeping with his brother, and as far as he knew, _neither had Hanzo_. Nor would his brother know that he needed to look for it. 

Genji wasn't sure where Hanzo was now, only that he'd left the Shimada-gumi after their fight and never returned to Hanamura. Unless he'd stumbled across the truth, Hanzo might be out there right now, suffering as terribly as Genji had been until McCree touched him.

Horror turned to fury, at himself and his brother both. Why the hell should Genji care if Hanzo suffered? If anything, the thought should make him happy. Hanzo deserved to suffer, after what he'd done to Genji. Certainly it was no concern of Genji's whether his brother was taking care of himself.

A big, warm hand covered his where Genji had fisted the sheets, callused fingers rough against Genji's scarred flesh. "Ease up, darlin'," McCree murmured, his voice hardly more than a wheeze.

Jolted from his increasingly bitter thoughts, it took Genji a moment to understand what McCree said. Then he realized he'd tightened the arm around McCree's chest, squeezing harder and harder as he grew angry, until he was in danger of cutting off the man's air entirely. "Shit! I'm sorry," he whispered back, and loosened his grip.

He would have pulled away entirely, except McCree didn't let go of his hand. The other man rolled over to face Genji, lacing their fingers together. "What's got you all in a knot? Nightmare?" His scent intensified, taking on a sweet, soothing odor that acted almost like a sedative, calming Genji's racing heart. McCree nuzzled close, rubbing his cheek against Genji's. Marking him.

Struggling to control the harshness of his breathing, Genji glanced over McCree's shoulder. Reyes _appeared_ to be sound asleep, but Genji wasn't sure he believed it. If he was faking it to allow McCree and Genji the illusion of privacy, Genji was grateful. 

"I'm fine," he replied, keeping his voice low just in case Reyes really was still sleeping. "I got lost in my thoughts. Go back to sleep."

"You're not fine," McCree insisted. "Your scent's all over the damn place, full of distress and anger and pain. Let me help, Genji. It's what I'm here for." He pulled back to look at Genji, and the dim light glinted off wetness on his cheek. Was McCree crying? For him?

Then McCree reached out and swiped his thumb over Genji's cheek, smearing more wetness there, on the side McCree _hadn't_ nuzzled against. _Genji_ was the one crying, silent tears he hadn't even been aware of. His struggle to breathe wasn't due to his damaged lungs, but to the way his throat closed against the sobs trying to escape.

Humiliated by the realization, Genji turned hastily to face the wall, trying to hide his face from McCree. He rubbed hard at his eyes with one hand, the other scrabbling frantically over the sheets to find his mask. It wouldn't hide wetness in his eyes, but it would at least cover the rest of his uncontrolled expression, and the scent McCree could apparently read his emotions in. But he couldn't find it, and then a dull thud announced he must have swept it right off the bed, onto the floor.

"Shhhh. Hey. It's okay." McCree wrapped around him from behind, arm around Genji's waist this time, cheek rubbing against the back of Genji's shoulder. "The relief can be overwhelming, that's all. No shame in it. Don't go runnin' off, now."

Grateful that McCree had chalked Genji's emotional outburst down to the effects of the touch-starvation, Genji stopped fighting to get free. He couldn't anyway, not without breaking Reyes' order, but for a moment all that had mattered was getting away before his teammate somehow divined the truth of Genji's emotional turmoil.

He was crying for Hanzo, for the pain his brother might be in. After everything the bastard did to him, after the years Genji spent hating his brother and plotting his revenge, how could it matter to him that Hanzo was alone? How could it _upset_ him so badly? 

McCree's touch and warmth and smoky scent helped, but the sharp ache behind Genji's breastbone refused to ease. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he forced himself to speak in a steady voice. "Sorry. I'm okay now. I won't leave. You should go back to sleep."

McCree made a doubtful sound, but relaxed his grip on Genji. He didn't let go, settling into the new position as if he intended to sleep right there. Genji's instincts insisted that he should turn around, take back the dominant position of 'big spoon', but he didn't want to face McCree again while the tear tracks were still on his cheeks.

Then Reyes shifted, rolling over to spoon McCree from the other side. His arm draped over McCree's waist reached far enough that his hand came to rest on Genji's hip, as well. The touch wasn't soothing, the way McCree's was, but possessive. Perhaps that should have twinged his instincts too, but Genji understood it was meant to be a gesture of inclusion. A reminder that Genji wasn't alone anymore.

Closing his eyes, Genji forced himself to settle, drawing in as much of their mingled scents as he could. Though he knew he should break contact long enough to retrieve his mask, he really didn't want to lose the sensation of connection. He could live without the extra oxygen for one night. It wasn't as if he'd be exerting himself.

As he willed himself into the embrace of sleep, Genji tried very hard not to wonder if Hanzo was curled up somewhere, alone and hurting, right that moment.


	4. Chapter 4

After years of watching Reyes and McCree together, Genji had believed he understood the basics of how Alphas and betas worked. Just a few weeks of Reyes actively teaching him made him realize how wrong he'd been. For one thing, Genji had made a lot of base assumptions that were false, many of which were grounded in 'common knowledge'.

'Everyone knew' that betas were weaker than Alphas, both physically and in terms of willpower. That was simply how dominance worked. 'Everyone knew' that whether an ABO was beta or Alpha was determined by their personality and how much they enjoyed submitting. And 'everyone knew' that a beta would cave at the first sign of Alpha dominance, willing and happy to follow any order they were given, no matter how debasing or horrific.

Genji had always puzzled over the way McCree would mouth off and even argue with Reyes outright, but assumed it was something Reyes tolerated because he was amused by it.

Now he learned the truth; a beta could be forced to submit by a stronger Alpha, but that didn't necessarily mean they _wanted_ to do so. McCree was plenty stubborn and opinionated, and though he submitted willingly to Reyes, he still had his own strength of character. And he was more than capable of telling Genji where to stick it, most of the time.

Part of that was the protection of the bond. A bonded beta would follow his Alpha first and foremost, always, and that gave him some protection against the urge to obey anyone else. But part of it was the fact that McCree had more will and grit than some Alphas. Even when Genji was trying to exert his dominance - one of the exercises Reyes gave him, with Jesse as a willing test subject - the beta was often able to resist.

It wasn't some kind of character flaw or personal weakness that made McCree a beta. It was simply part of who he was, like the gene that gave him brown eyes. Reyes turned Genji over to Moira O'Deorain for the science part of the lessons, since one of her many degrees was in ABO physiology and genetics. She was very firm that there were in fact three separate forms of the ABO gene. It was instinct that shaped personality, not the other way around, and it wasn't a hard and fast rule.

Reyes had also taken Genji around the bases to meet other ABO agents, in Blackwatch and Overwatch alike. With his mask off, once he learned to identify the different scent markers, Genji could tell immediately who was Alpha and who was beta - but guessing with the mask on first, judging by personality and attitude alone, he was wrong about a quarter of the time.

There were betas leading teams, though never if an Alpha was in the group, and they were one and all well respected officers who were known for their fairness and level heads. There were Alphas in positions usually considered 'subservient', such as the woman who headed the daycare at Watchpoint: Grand Mesa; she had the most well-behaved group of toddlers Genji had ever seen, and every single one of them loved their teacher fiercely. But, there was no sign that she had cowed them through fear or pain, as Genji had first expected.

Then he got the biggest shock yet, when Genji went for his quarterly medical check-in with Angela Ziegler, and he caught the now recognizable scent of an ABO the moment he removed his mask for the tests.

"Angela, you're one of us?" he blurted out, staring. He realized that he'd always subconsciously been aware of a feeling of connection, but he'd thought it was because she had saved his life and he owed her everything.

Smiling sadly, she nodded. "I am so sorry that I missed the fact that you're an Alpha. I couldn't have found the gland in the ruin of your throat, but I _should_ have noticed the scent when your mask was off. Though to be fair, I believe your secondary glands have become stronger over time to compensate; it wouldn't have been as noticeable initially. And I hardly see you anymore these days."

She ran her fingers through his hair, ruffling it in a casual gesture of affection. Now that he thought about it, she'd always done that - touched his shoulder, his cheek, his hair. He'd assumed it was meant to remind him that he did still have a body, that he was still human in some sense, and that was undoubtedly a factor. She also felt genuine affection for him, as he did for her, once of the few people he truly liked and trusted without question.

Her touch always soothed him, eased some measure of his pain. Apparently, that was more than simple affection at work. Catching her hand in his, he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, and felt the same faint sense of contact that he'd learned to identify with McCree and Reyes. 

"You may have saved my sanity without knowing it," he pointed out wryly. "Reyes keeps saying it's a miracle I made it as long as I did with no contact at all, but that's not quite true, is it?"

As bleak as his life had seemed when he thought he would never walk again, as angry as he'd been at Hanzo's utter betrayal, he hadn't truly sunk into constant rage and despair until some time after he'd joined Blackwatch - and no longer had Angela coming to check up on him on a regular basis.

She turned her hand and squeezed his fingers in return. "Well, as always, you are welcome to see me whenever you like, and to have as many hugs as you please. Perhaps you'll actually take me up on the offer now."

The teasing was lighthearted, but he took the words at face value, using the grip on her hand to tug her closer. She didn't resist, stepping in and wrapping her arms around his neck, encouraging him to rest his head on her shoulder. Releasing her hand, he slid his left arm around her back and held her close, concentrating on soaking up the scent of her.

The embrace wasn't sexual in the least, but it was intimate. Her scent wrapped around him, soothing and encouraging, and he realized she must be deliberately projecting as he'd sometimes experienced McCree doing. Yet the base marker of her scent was not that of a beta; it was softer than McCree's or any other beta he'd met in the last weeks. There was a gentleness to it, almost a sensation of warmth. A feeling like 'coming home' was supposed to be.

It brought a memory struggling to the surface of his mind, old and faded. His mother, hugging him close, singing to him as she rocked him to sleep. She'd died when he was so young, he had very few clear memories of her, so the recall was a gift.

It also brought other memories to mind, more recent and far more agonizing ones, that made his heart clench with the pain of betrayal and his gut churn with the rage of vengeance. But he wasn't ready to think about that, not yet. Maybe not ever. For now, he focused on the precious memory of his mother.

"What are you?" he asked, lifting his head to look at Angela. "You're not a beta."

"I'm an omega." Her answering smile had a sharp edge to it. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that means I am weak, or a pushover."

"You are, and always have been, one of the strongest people I know," he assured her solemnly. Though he was grateful he'd known her before finding out about this, or he _would_ have made that mistake, not so very long ago.

The stories he'd heard about his mother had always portrayed her as the strong heart of their clan, too. Nobody had ever so much as whispered that she was weak in any way - though that might partly have been out of fear of his father's wrath. 

Say what he would about the harshness of his father's 'love', Genji would not deny that the man had been utterly devoted to his wife. Sojiro had never remarried, despite strong pressure from the clan to at least form an alliance through an arranged marriage.

Angela held the embrace for another minute, before Genji reluctantly pulled away. He felt centered and grounded, as relaxed as he did after an hour or more of contact with Reyes and McCree. There was no doubt in his mind that her casual, affectionate touches had saved him in the many months he'd been in her care.

That gave him a great deal to think about, and he spent the whole trip back to the Blackwatch base absorbed in his musings. His mind circled and circled the true pain of the topic, refusing to acknowledge it but unable to move past it.

His preoccupation continued the rest of the day, and he knew his teammates thought he'd sunk into brooding again - McCree kept shooting him concerned looks, and once or twice drifted by to brush his hand over Genji's shoulder, trying to offer comfort. Genji didn't flinch away or growl as he would have a few weeks ago, but couldn't find relief in it.

Eventually Genji gave up on pretending to be marginally social, and withdrew to his favourite thinking perch on the rooftop. He was startled to realize he hadn't visited the spot since The Incident with McCree. Usually Genji was up here several times a week, too exhausted to do anything useful, but unable to sleep due to the pain of his body - which, he now knew, was partly the pain of craving contact.

Sitting on the edge, he stared up at the nearly full moon, and did his best to empty his thoughts. Maybe if he could stop thinking entirely, he would find some measure of peace, which would give him enough buffer to deal with the rest of it.

Some hours later, Reyes found him still there, struggling. The Commander was near silent as he came out of the stairwell, but Genji was aware of him from the moment the door swung open. Sneaking up on a ninja was no easy feat.

"Commander." Genji's voice came out sharper than he'd meant it to, but the intrusion was unwelcome. "Did you require me for something?"

Reyes stood there, just out of reach of an attack, hands on his hips as he looked down at Genji. Finally he sighed. "Well, I _was_ going to chew you out for disobeying, the consequences of which we've already discussed, but you seem like you're already doing a great job of chewing yourself out for something else."

"Disobeying?" Genji pushed to his feet, unwilling to have this conversation while at a disadvantage. He was too short to be able to put his head level with Reyes', but he could at least not be in a submissive posture. "What have I done?"

Crossing his arms, Reyes gave him an unimpressed look. "You're supposed to be in with me and Jesse tonight."

Was that tonight? Shit, it was. Genji bowed his head slightly, a gesture of apology. "I forgot, but I would have remembered when I finally slept. I never join you until later." So far they hadn't objected to him sneaking in long after the two had fallen asleep.

"Uh-huh. Were you planning to actually sleep at any point tonight? Because you're already way past the five hour minimum I ordered you to have with us." Reyes lifted an eyebrow, and cocked his head toward the east.

Turning, Genji was startled to see the first hints of false dawn tinting the horizon. It was much, much later than he'd realized. "Damn it. I apologize, Commander. I did not intend to disobey."

"Kinda figured." Reyes' voice was very dry. Then he shocked Genji by moving to the edge and sitting down, putting his head below Genji's. He patted the spot beside him, an invitation that was a thinly disguised order.

At that moment, being ordered to do anything by anybody grated harshly on Genji's nerves, and he wanted very badly to stay on his feet in silent defiance, see what Reyes would do. But his Commander was already giving him a pass, and Genji didn't want to test the other Alpha's patience any further. So he settled himself back into the spot he'd been in all night, close enough to Reyes to talk.

Silence reigned for several minutes. Finally Reyes made a sound of annoyance. "The hell's got you so wound up? You really that upset to find out Mercy missed realizing what you are?"

"What?" That was so far from what he'd been thinking about, it took Genji a moment to even follow the logic. "No. I would never blame her. There is no limit to what I owe her for everything she's done for me. It's not as if there was something she should - or even could - have done differently."

"What, then?" Reyes gave him a look that was hard, but not entirely unsympathetic. "It's obviously got something to do with her."

More silence, as Genji fought to vocalize all the churning thoughts and emotions that plagued him. "We've talked a lot about the roles of Alphas and betas, and how they interact. What about omegas? Angela is not a woman I would have described as submissive."

It was Reyes' turn to be quiet for a moment, leaning back on his hands to look up at the stars as he gathered his thoughts. "ABOs are about one in a hundred out of the 'normal' population. Omegas are at least ten times that rare, so there's not a whole lot known about them that isn't based on folklore or 'common knowledge', and we've already discussed how reliable _that_ is."

Genji snorted in amused agreement. "I would have been better off going into this with no knowledge at all."

"Probably. Anyway, the difference between betas and omegas isn’t so much about more submission as it is about levels of aggression. Omegas have _none_ , and can soothe a beta the way a beta can with an Alpha. Most of them are pacifists, though they're fiercely protective of the people they care about. As you've seen with Mercy, sometimes that protectiveness means whipping out a pistol and shooting the asshole trying to hurt your patients, if necessary."

Genji nodded. He'd once witnessed Angela standing over an injured agent, calmly and precisely shooting down the OR14 unit attempting to charge them. "Do they tend to be healers?"

"Or nurturers of some kind." Reyes shrugged. "As you probably noticed, they're ten times better at calming an Alpha, and contact with them is like having a whole pile of betas on you. It's said that a happy, stable triad bond, Alpha, beta, and omega, is literally the best thing you can ever experience. But I've never met or even heard of a triad in real life. For one thing, the rarity of omegas isn't just due to how few are born. Their suicide rate is ungodly high. Many don't make it to adulthood."

"They get bullied," Genji guessed. "Even before they manifest, they are viewed as soft and weak, and after…"

"After, the labels and name-calling _really_ start," Reyes agreed. "Even Mercy went through that. Half her toughness comes from finding the strength to get past that kind of bullshit. But you haven't spent the whole day and night lost in thought about the basic nature of omegas. What's really bothering you?"

Again, Genji struggled. "Is it possible for a beta or omega to fight an Alpha? Not resist them, but truly _fight_ them. Hurt them."

Reyes grunted. "A beta can do it under orders, as you’ve seen with McCree in the field. On their own initiative is another matter. It's possible, if they're desperate enough and they have a strong enough will. But it fucks them up pretty bad, twists all their instincts around and ties them up in knots, until they don't know whether they're coming or going anymore. It’s almost impossible if they were bonded to that Alpha, but I’ve seen it once. I don’t know if an omega ever could."

Genji absorbed that. "What might drive one to it? What is 'desperate enough'?"

That earned him a heavy sigh. "You'd really be better off asking him directly. It's not like I can personally understand the feelings or motivation."

"Since I fully intend to run my sword through his heart the next time we meet, that would be rather difficult," Genji responded, barely restraining his snarl.

Reyes frowned. "Wait, who are you talking about?"

"My brother." Genji cocked his head, now thoroughly curious. "Why, who are _you_ talking about?"

"Someone I shouldn't have been, apparently." Reyes rubbed at his face with one hand, sounding weary. "I thought he'd let something slip and you were reluctant to push him about it."

"McCree?" Genji was astonished by the revelation. And Reyes had specifically mentioned a beta attacking despite being bonded. "Why would McCree ever have attacked you?"

"Not me." Reyes gave a smile that was dark, grim, and full of aggression. "The asshole Alpha who founded the Deadlock Gang along with McCree and a few others. When I found Jesse, he was in jail for murdering the bastard. He'd been beaten and abused for years, and finally had enough. It should have been a clear cut case of self defence, but the judge was an Alpha who was outraged that a beta had dared to 'defy the natural order of things' by lifting a hand to his Alpha."

"I thought the bond allowed you to feel him directly through the connection," Genji objected. "Abusers are usually afraid of pain, themselves. How can a bonded Alpha hurt their beta? How could the bond have formed in the first place?"

"There are real sadists who get off on feeling the pain of their beta." Reyes' lip curled, indicating what he thought of such people. "Maybe for some sociopaths there's a connection missing and they _don't_ feel it. Maybe you have to have some basic level of empathy for the bond to work both ways. Or maybe it's something to do with how the bond was formed. As for that…"

He turned his head to look Genji in the eye, expression dark. "This isn't information I would give just any Alpha. I'm telling you because I trust you not to misuse the knowledge. It is possible to force a bond on a beta. It involves a lot of abuse over a significant period of time - possibly related to the same kind of fucked up bond with a captor that causes Stockholm Syndrome."

"That is…" Genji knew better than most that there were monsters lurking in the dark corners of the world. He'd encountered far too many, both in the Yakuza and in Blackwatch. But this… it would be a violation not just of the beta's body, but of his mind and very soul. Genji couldn't find a word strong enough to describe his horror and revulsion at the mere idea. "That is utterly without honour," was the best he could come up with.

Reyes smiled. "The fact that you think so is why I'm willing to tell you. Seriously, if you want to know more, you should ask Jesse. But get him pretty drunk first, and be prepared to deal with a morose pile of self-recrimination and tears by the end of it."

That didn't sound appealing, on any level. He wasn't that close to McCree, even now, though certainly things had improved between them. Genji wasn't sure he really wanted to deal with someone else's emotional agony on top of his own. Especially on this topic. "I will consider it," he finally said.

"Now, tell me what's this about your brother?" Reyes switched topics, clearly done discussing McCree's personal life and history. "I assumed you were both Alphas, and that's what had you butting heads."

"That was my thought as well, at first. Then I finally understood what I was picking up from Angela." Genji clenched his fists, and forced himself to say the words he'd been avoiding all day. "I have encountered that scent marker before. On my mother… and on Hanzo. I'm certain of it."

"That's insane. Impossible." Reyes shook his head. "You said your brother led your whole clan. An omega couldn't do that."

"Angela heads an entire hospital and research lab," Genji pointed out. "There are hundreds of people under her command, directly and indirectly."

"Yeah, but Mercy leads entirely through the respect she’s earned from her subordinates.That's not the same as a violent criminal empire," Reyes insisted. "The level of aggression and dominance needed for something like that - I don't think even a beta could do it, let alone an omega. _Certainly_ not with an Alpha brother supposed to be following his orders."

"And therein lies the key to our destruction." Genji bowed his head, lowering his eyes in a rare show of trust, but this subject was too painful for him to allow Reyes to see into the depths of his expression. "Hanzo and I were close, as children. Inseparable. People used to say that together we would surely lead the Shimada-gumi to heights it had never known."

"It was always you getting the two of you into trouble," Reyes guessed shrewdly.

Genji nodded. "We both knew that Hanzo would one day lead the clan, but somehow it never occurred to us that I would therefore have to give way to him. I suppose I figured he'd get stuck with all the boring paperwork and meetings, and I would be in charge of the exciting things like battles and assassinations as his 'second in command'."

"You were kids. Kids never think of things like consequences down the road." Reyes shrugged. "So what went wrong? Why didn't you end up taking the leadership instead, when it became clear that you were better suited? Your father _had_ to be an Alpha, your mother wouldn't have been able to pass on anything but the omega gene. He must have realized what was happening as you grew into your dominance."

"Yakuza clans are very traditional. The eldest son inherits. To subvert that tradition would be to admit that Hanzo was weak, incapable, and that would bring shame to our entire family line. We might have lost alliances, or been challenged for territory and profit by other clans." Genji's fists clenched so hard that his nails drove into his left palm, tiny crescents of pain. "Father pushed Hanzo, drove him mercilessly, to learn how to lead the clan. He would accept nothing less than perfection, and Hanzo did his best to meet the impossible expectations."

"Of course he did," Reyes murmured. "His Alpha gave him a command. An omega child would do _anything_ an Alpha parent ordered them to, and kill themselves trying if necessary. Meanwhile it was shredding every nerve you had, being expected to obey an omega, even before you’d fully manifested. It was inevitable you’d end up rebelling. Christ, how could your father not have realized how much this would fuck the two of you up? How could he not have taught you _anything_ about what you are?"

"I think he must have seen the early signs of what we would be, and chose not to tell us in hopes that ignorance would make us malleable." Genji's voice sounded flat and cold, even to him. He'd resented his father for years, but only now did he truly hate the man, as he realized everything the bastard had stolen from him. "He likely believed, as most people do, that personality determines dominance among ABO, not the other way around. Perhaps he thought he could force Hanzo to become an Alpha, and me to learn to obey."

"He was a fool." Reyes was equally flat, though his anger ran hotter than Genji's icy rage. "In demanding that his sons rearrange their existence to his satisfaction, he destroyed you both, along with the powerful legacy he could have left behind. Maybe, if he'd taught you the truth and how to handle your instincts, the two of you could have worked together to at least make it appear that Hanzo was leading, if that was so necessary. Instead he set you at each other's throats."

"Yes." In that one word was a wealth of emotion, all of Genji's rage and hurt and betrayal, all of the regret and sorrow for the life he _should_ have led, the brother who _should_ have been his to love and protect.

Because at the heart of it all, that was what truly threatened to drive him mad. If Hanzo had been another Alpha, as Genji had first believed, he could have accepted that. He’d have raged at the betrayal regardless, but he’d have understood it. The clash between them would still have been painful, but probably inevitable. 

But Hanzo wasn’t an Alpha. He was an omega, who’d been cruelly forced to act against his instincts. He had only ever wanted to follow Genji’s lead, and if they’d been allowed to grow together as they should have, Genji was almost certain they would have shared a bond much like Reyes and Jesse did.

Hanzo was meant to be _his_.

Looking back on those early days with this knowledge, to the time when he and Hanzo had been close, Genji could see the signs so clearly. Their father had obviously seen it too, and had forcibly separated them, doing everything he could to put them at odds instead.

Had their father felt threatened, knowing that Genji would be a powerful Alpha, all the stronger with an omega linked to and supporting him? Had he been jealous, having lost his own bond when their mother died, and torn the brothers apart to destroy the painful reminder? 

Was it disgust at the idea of his children in a relationship that might have ended up involving sexual contact? Fuck, that explained the severity of Sojiro’s reaction to finding the two of them jerking off together in Hanzo’s bed, and why the truly harsh treatment had begun that day. 

Whatever the reason, the result was that their father had stolen Hanzo from him.

"You realize this changes everything about your battle with your brother?" Reyes broke into Genji's increasingly enraged thoughts. "Hanzo must have been half insane, trying to please his Alpha by leading and unable to do so with you constantly challenging his authority. Because I know you must have been. You couldn't have helped yourself."

"It changes nothing," Genji replied, the words emerging on a nearly inhuman growl. "Father had been dead for months when Hanzo attacked me. It's not as if he was ordered to do so. And even if he was, even if it was a holdover from father's demands that he lead, Hanzo still made the choice to turn his dragon on me. We are more than our instincts."

"Except when we're not." Reyes sounded grim, but also weary. "I'm not going to tell you how you should feel. What Hanzo did to you is pretty damn unforgivable, no matter how you look at it. All I'm saying is, keep in mind what might have driven him to it, and how bad it likely fucked him up too. Maybe talk to Jesse about that side of it, get a submissive's perspective."

"I will consider it," Genji said again. But he knew that he wouldn't. The only thing this knowledge gave him was additional rage toward his father, driving his thirst for vengeance all the higher.

There was no room in his heart for forgiveness, not where Hanzo was concerned. No matter how much part of him wished there was.


	5. Chapter 5

Blah blah fucking blah. Blah fucking blah blah. That's pretty much all Gabriel heard as Jack lectured him into the wee hours of the morning. On and on and fucking _on_ , like he hadn't already repeated everything ten times or more. Every minute grated harder on Gabe's nerves, every harsh word from Jack rubbed him the wrong way, and every admonishing gesture crawled under his skin.

"Are you even listening to me, damn it?" Jack finally burst out, planting his hands on the desk and leaning over it like he thought he could physically cow Gabriel, sitting on the other side. 

"Not really," Gabe retorted, rolling his eyes. "Not after the first two repetitions, anyway. Yeah, it sucks that the Venice mission went sideways. Yeah, it sucks that Blackwatch was exposed, and of course I agree that should never have fucking happened. What the hell do you want me to do about it now?"

Jack stared at him like Gabriel had lost his mind. "I want you to acknowledge that you _did something wrong_ , not just that 'things went sideways', Gabe. You _assassinated_ someone in cold blood!"

"Not the first asshole I've assassinated, or ordered someone else to kill," Gabriel retorted. "That's what Blackwatch is _for_. Hell, that's what you use Ana for, isn't it? Or is she so stuck behind a desk these days that she never gets to pull the trigger anymore?"

"Don't turn this back on me," Jack snapped. "Those are sanctioned missions that have been planned and approved because it's the _only_ way to deal with the threat. Your orders were to bring Antonio in alive, damn it. He needed to face justice!"

"What justice?" Gabriel snarled back. "What fucking justice was he going to see, Jack? You and I both know he was right, he'd have been out within the week without so much as a slap on the wrist, and we'd _still_ look like the bad guys for targeting a 'stand-up citizen'. At least this way we've rid the world of a threat."

"And turned him into a martyr while you were at it." Jack rubbed at his face with both hands. The anger drained away, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion that spoke to a similar weariness dragging at Gabriel's limbs. "God damn it, I'm trying to help you, Gabe. The U.N. is breathing down my neck, champing at the bit to get rid of you. This is exactly the excuse they've always wanted, 'proof' that your Alpha instincts are in control and you can't be trusted."

"Proof _they_ wanted? Or that _you_ wanted?" Gabriel's lip curled, and a growl vibrated deep in his chest. It was his turn to rise to his feet and lean on the desk, pushing into the space aggressively. "Trying to get rid of the competition? Afraid maybe they'll see I'm the better commander after all, and give me your job?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jack shook his head, eyes wide. "Have you _actually_ lost it? Is this..."

" _One_ fucking word about my 'condition' or the tests or anything else, and I swear to god I will end you," Gabriel roared, pushed so far past his limits he couldn't even see them in the distance any more.

Jack went still, his expression falling into that too-neutral zone that he always used when he thought Gabe was over the line. It was nearly as infuriating as Ana's 'mom-look'. His tone matched his expression, perfectly level. "Put the gun away, Gabe, and back the fuck down."

Gun? 

Gabriel glanced down, and was shocked to discover he had indeed pulled his shotgun, aimed steadily at Jack's heart despite the way the rest of his body trembled with rage. Gabriel stared at the weapon, feeling like he was outside himself watching a stranger. His hand refused to obey him, clenched tight around the stock and finger feathering the trigger; it took everything he had not to apply that last bit of pressure and fire.

A pale hand covered his, pushing firmly until Gabriel lowered the gun to aim at the desk instead. Once it wasn't pointed at Jack he was finally able to release it, letting it clatter to the hard surface with a sound like a small explosion. Still shaking with fury - and now a large dose of fear - he sank into his chair and buried his face in his hands. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

Warm, strong hands braced his shoulders, squeezing and offering support. Jack had his back as always, and Gabriel had nearly _shot him for it_. Even now he could barely stop himself from tearing the other man's throat out. He'd never been more grateful that his best friend wasn't a fellow Alpha, because that would surely have pushed Gabe over the edge completely.

Jack's tone was still level when he spoke again, but Gabriel knew him well enough to catch the note of worry buried beneath. "I won't ask, since it's apparently such a triggering subject for you. But give me something to work with, Gabe. _Anything_ I can use to justify why I'm not removing you from command."

'Because we both know you should be relieved of duty' hung unspoken in the air between them. Gabriel didn't know if Jack actually meant to convey the additional sentiment, or if the words came from Gabriel's own conscience prodding him. If he was unstable enough to draw a gun on his best friend - and yes, his commanding officer - then he _wasn't_ fit for command.

But the thought of admitting that, of stepping down and going on medical leave that likely would never be over, threatened to send Gabriel right back into the fury.

"I'll stay out of the field," he compromised. "Lock myself behind a desk the way you and Ana have been. The adrenaline and tension of a mission makes the aggression worse, always has. I can still make rational decisions when I'm calm."

For a long moment Jack studied him, as if looking for the truth of Gabe's statement. The hesitation made Gabriel want to snarl again, want to clench his fists and rage at his friend for not fucking trusting him when he said he could handle it. Yet the sensible part of him knew Jack was doing the smart thing, that Gabriel had in fact proved he couldn't _be_ trusted.

Sensible be damned. The lack of faith pissed him off.

Finally Jack sighed, a heavy sound. "All right. You're officially off active duty. Frankly you should have been stuck behind that desk years ago from sheer work volume, and we both know it. That does bring up another issue though. One of the reasons you _are_ still doing field missions is because it gives you an outlet. Is losing that going to cause more problems than it solves?"

"Won't know until I try," Gabriel said with grim humour - emphasis on 'grim'. That was a very real concern, and there was nothing he could do to fix it. Worse, if not being able to go out meant he couldn't do his desk job properly either, he was going to lose his position entirely. Retirement would not be a good look for him.

The mere thought of it made the growl rattle in his chest yet again. When Jack gave him a wary look, Gabriel sighed and pushed out of his chair. "No more lectures," he declared. "It happened, it's over, now we deal with the fallout. _Later_." When he'd had a chance to rest, and soak up Jesse's soothing presence. Surely a few hours wrapped around his beta would help alleviate some of this snarling frustration that still raged within him.

Except, as he remembered when he reached their quarters, Jesse was royally pissed at him about this clusterfuck of a mission. The beta stood in their communal kitchen gulping down coffee like his life depended on it. He went rigid when Gabriel entered the room, lip curled in a snarl his instincts wouldn't let him voice to an Alpha. His eyes were averted, but not submissively down; a beta's way of glaring, since they couldn't meet an Alpha's eyes in challenge. He crossed his arms over his chest, closing off and making it clearer than words ever could that he did not welcome Gabriel's presence. When he spoke his voice dripped ice. "Wondered when I’d see you again. Morrison seemed set to lecture you for days."

"He tried, and I'm already sick of it, so don't you start," Gabriel snapped, crossing the distance between them.

Jesse slammed his mug down on the counter and retreated, matching Gabe step for step, eyes narrowed. "Oh, no. Don't you come stomping over here like you're mad at _me_. I'm the one who's got a right to be pissed." His back fetched up against the wall and he stopped, unable to go further.

"Goddamn it Jesse, I need you to help me, not give me more lip," Gabriel exclaimed. 

Jesse's eyes widened, then his angry expression softened. He still didn't look happy, but he nodded. "Yeah, okay. C'mere, then. We'll table it for now."

As far as Gabriel was concerned the discussion was done, not just shelved. But they could argue later about whether they were still arguing. Snorting at that thought, which showcased just how exhausted he was, Gabriel wrapped his hand around Jesse's neck in a possessive grip and leaned in, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply of the scent of his beta.

Only to get a nasty shock when Jesse's scent wasn't the only one Gabriel caught. His eyes flew open as he snarled. "Why the _fuck_ is Shimada's scent on you? What the hell, Jesse?" Jesse made a strangled sound of protest, like he couldn't find words to justify his transgression. Gabriel's snarl became an outright growl. "I ordered him not to ever take the damn mask off unless I'm there with you two!" 

He'd also warned the ninja that if Gabriel ever caught the other Alpha's scent on his beta again, he would fucking kill the bastard. The last time he’d smelled Genji this strong on Jesse when the two had been alone, it was because they’d had sex. If that had happened again, Gabriel would kill them _both_.

"Gabe..." Jesse whispered. "Please, darlin’, calm down. It ain't... ain't what you... think..."

Gabriel didn't much care what excuse they had. He'd been itching for a target to direct his rage at since Jack started lecturing him, and now he had one. "Shimada!" he roared. "Get your ass in here!"

"I'm here." There had been no sound, not so much as a whisper of air before the ninja appeared in the kitchen doorway. His red eyes swept over the room, and a growl reverberated in his voice as well. "Let go of McCree."

"Are you seriously fucking challenging me?" If Gabriel had been angry before, now he was incandescent with fury. "You son of a bitch, how dare..."

"I am not challenging you," Genji interrupted, though the hand he'd wrapped around the hilt of his short sword put the lie to his words. "I did not disobey, neither did McCree, and you are _hurting him_. Let him go!"

Taking his eyes off the other Alpha would be tantamount to offering submission, and there was no way in hell Gabriel was going to do that. He backed up in order to get both Genji and Jesse in his field of view. The distance forced him to release his grip on Jesse... and the beta gasped in a huge breath and collapsed to his knees.

Stunned out of his anger, Gabriel broke eye contact after all so he could get a good look at his beta on the floor. Jesse wheezed for air, and there was an ugly red mark around his throat. A mark that Gabriel had a sick feeling would perfectly match his own hand. He'd been squeezing, cutting off Jesse's air, without even realizing it. 

For the second time that night he'd struck out at a loved one, acted with no intention of doing so but with the clear intent of causing harm. Worse, there was a part of Gabriel that snarled in _satisfaction_ at the sight of Jesse on his knees, punished appropriately for his disobedience.

Except it wasn't fucking _appropriate_. Nothing about this situation was appropriate. Gabriel backed up across the room, putting as much distance between him and Jesse as he could. He didn't trust himself right now, not when the faint scent of another Alpha still clung to his beta and enraged Gabriel's instincts. "Explain," he demanded, putting aside the issue of his own lack of control for a moment.

Genji's glare didn't waver, and his hand stayed on his sword, but he wisely made no attempt to go to Jesse and offer help. If he'd taken one step in that direction, Gabriel was pretty sure he'd go for the ninja's throat. "You ordered me never to remove my mask if I was alone with McCree. We were not alone. Dr. Ziegler came to check on us, and offer any help she could; she knew all the lectures would have rubbed me the wrong way. We invited McCree to sit with us as well, then ended up falling asleep together."

Ziegler had been here? Gabriel breathed deep again, and this time caught the faint sugary scent of the omega that was nearly hidden by the permanent scents of the three ABOs who lived in these quarters. 

If that was true, then McCree _hadn't_ done anything wrong. He had long-standing permission and encouragement from Gabe to spend as much time as he liked with Angela. Of course the omega wouldn’t have wanted to be alone with an Alpha for an extended period, even Genji whom she cared for deeply. It was natural that they’d all cuddled close enough to scent mark each other, would have been strange for the three _not_ to end up piled together in those circumstances.

"All right," Gabriel said, the words meant to convince himself as much as reassure them. "Okay, that's fine. I'm sorry I lost my temper. Damn it, Jesse, you know I'd never hurt you on purpose." He shook his head, sick to his stomach at his own actions. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"I know." Jesse's voice was still hoarse, but he didn't seem to be having further trouble breathing, so Gabriel hadn't done too much damage. He clambered to his feet, a bit unsteady, keeping his eyes on the floor and averted away from Gabriel. It was a submissive pose, his shoulders hunched like he expected a further blow. "You're all worked up. I shouldn't have argued with you at first, maybe then the scent wouldn't've set you off so bad."

Genji made a sound, like he'd started to object and stopped himself. His expression tightened further, but he finally let go of his sword. "I'd say that you need to spend some time with Dr. Ziegler as well Commander, except I very much doubt she'd be willing to put up with you right now."

"No chance in hell of that," Gabriel agreed with a snort. The doctor didn't like being around Gabriel at the best of times, but no sane omega would come anywhere near him with the level of aggression he was pouring out. "I think it's best that I keep my own company right now. Both of you steer clear for a while." As badly as he wanted Jesse's soothing presence, he didn't trust himself not to go too far again.

The look on Jesse's face suggested _he_ didn't trust Gabriel not to go too far, either. Jack's lack of faith rubbed Gabe raw, but Jesse's wariness cut him to the bone. The beta still couldn't look at him, and Gabriel knew this had to be bringing up all kinds of hellish memories for the younger man.

"I am sorry," Gabriel repeated, putting as much conviction behind the words as he could. Jesse glanced at him from beneath his lashes, and nodded.

"Yeah, it's okay." Jesse shrugged awkwardly. "I think I'll hit the range, get out for a bit." Shoving his hands in his pockets - to hide the way they were shaking, Gabe was pretty sure - Jesse sauntered with forced casualness to the door that led to the rest of the base. 

Genji cocked his head, one of those ubiquitous gestures he used that could mean anything from agreement to disdain, and watched Jesse until the door closed behind the beta. Then he met Gabriel's gaze again, still angry, still challenging. There was a clear warning there, that the ninja was watching over Jesse and fully willing to protect him from Gabriel, if necessary. "I will take my leave as well."

"Do that." Gabe had to squeeze the words past teeth gritted against the urge to answer that challenge, to show the younger Alpha just who the hell was in charge between them. 

The moment Genji left, Gabriel turned and went back out. Jesse was already gone from the hallway, and Gabriel went in the opposite direction to head for the labs. As he'd expected, Moira was awake and working, fiddling with something or other under a microscope. She looked up as he entered, and raised one elegant brow. "Commander. Are they done scolding you for this nonsense like a child, or are you on a recess break?"

"Don't fucking start with me, O'Deorain." Gabriel was in absolutely no mood for the geneticist's taunting brand of humour. "There's something wrong. I'm completely off the goddamn edge. I pulled a gun on Jack, almost choked Jesse, and damn near went for Genji's throat. This is ridiculous."

Looking intrigued, she pulled out a scanner and aimed it at him. Light flashed over him, and she studied the readout. "Fascinating. Even for you, these levels are abnormally high. To put it in grossly oversimplified terms you'll understand, your fight or flight reflex, which for Alphas always constitutes ‘fight’, is overly activated. This would be excessive even during a mission, but hours later it's quite inappropriate. One of the things your enhancements were meant to accomplish was to allow you to remain at a heightened state of alertness long after an ordinary soldier would succumb to exhaustion. It appears your body is now losing the ability to regulate that effect and turn it off when no longer needed. Frankly, without the additional boost to your muscle durability and overall healing factor, your heart would surely have burst from the strain by now."

"If not for the fucking enhancements, my heart wouldn't be overworked in the first place," Gabriel retorted, and Moira made a hum of agreement. It did feel like his heart was racing, come to think of it, even though the god-awful soul deep weariness dragged at his limbs. Was it possible to be under the effects of an adrenaline crash and adrenaline surge at the same time? Moira was right, the human body could only handle so much strain before it gave out. "So how do I fix it?"

"A sedative should suffice in the short term," Moira unlocked a cabinet and pulled out a small bottle. She began prepping a hypodermic needle. "It will break the fight or flight cycle and allow your body to 'reset' back to a normal state."

"Until the next time I get triggered." Which didn't take much these days, especially since this effect continued to get worse. Even exercise might trigger it - especially since his exercise usually consisted of battle simulations in the training range, not just laps around a track. Nor could Gabriel cut out those training sessions, as they would now be his only means of bleeding off aggression and excess energy.

Moira administered the shot. After a few breathless moments when he thought it wasn't going to work, pleasant lassitude spread through Gabriel's limbs, and his heart began to slow. It felt like his brain slowed down too, racing thoughts settling back into their normal tracks instead of spinning around and around at hyperspeed. Rationality crept back in, and Gabriel felt even more horrified by his actions in the last few hours than he had before.

Not to mention utterly sickened by the _satisfaction_ he'd felt at seeing Jesse on his knees, gasping for air, head bowed submissively.

Fuck, he'd been right to take himself off field missions. His inappropriate responses would only escalate from here. Gabriel still couldn't feel bad about ending that smug Talon asshole though. Bad about the fallout, yeah, but not about killing the guy.

Moira tossed the needle in the hazardous waste. "This is effectively a concentrated dose of what you get from being with a beta. Their pheromones have a mildly sedative effect on Alphas. Presumably the reported stronger effect of an omega is due to a higher concentration of the same sedative, but I've yet to find one who will consent to participate in my study."

"Ziegler won't let you scan her?" Gabriel was surprised the doctor would refuse to help with something that could potentially revolutionize the way the world thought about ABOs. 

Moira sniffed disdainfully. "Dr. Ziegler and I have some sharp disagreements about the ethical limits of human experimentation, which I find rather laughable considering her use of largely untested and revolutionary medical equipment on Overwatch agents. She's repeatedly refused to be a subject in my study."

"Maybe I can put in a word with Jack about asking her to at least let you get samples." Gabriel sighed, and rubbed his face hard. With the aggression calmed, weariness was all that remained. The kind of battlefield exhaustion where it didn't matter how much you hurt or what you did to keep yourself awake, you _would_ fall asleep in short order. "Feels like the worst adrenaline crash ever."

"That's essentially what it is." Moira shrugged. "Alphas always have heightened adrenaline responses, among other hormones and chemical reactions. Yours are then concentrated exponentially by the effect of the experiments that were performed on you. Commander Morrison is doubtless also more reactive to things than he once was, but without the added complication of being an Alpha it's not as noticeable."

Come to think of it, Jack _was_ more volatile these days than he had been twenty years ago. Gabriel frequently joked about his friend turning into a 'crotchety old man’, but maybe it wasn't entirely Gabriel's fault that their fights grew more spectacular with every passing year.

"Keep some of that sedative on you at all times," he ordered Moira. "If I'm going off the rails, I give you executive authority to order me to take it, and do what's necessary to keep me from fucking myself over." A subtle gleam entered her eyes, and he narrowed his. "I'd damn well better agree that it was a necessary step to have taken, once I do calm down. So use it wisely."

"I'd never dream otherwise," she assured him, so smoothly he wondered if he'd imagined that instant of smug satisfaction. Then again, who wouldn't feel a certain triumph at being given permission to order their commanding officer around? 

With great effort he shoved himself to his feet. "I've got to go, or I'm going to end up sleeping on your lab table. Thanks, Moira. Hopefully you'll find a cure for this damn problem before I destroy my life completely."

Because he was all too sure that was exactly the direction he was heading in.


	6. Chapter 6

Since the disaster in Rialto, with the bungled extraction-turned-assassination, the situation among Jesse's team had grown exponentially worse. Gabriel always struggled to keep a handle on his instincts, far more than other Alphas, but now he seemed to be losing all sense of proportion and understanding of consequences. It was like the man had no impulse control at all, and his aggression levels were through the roof.

The best Jesse could do was try to argue sense into him, and use every beta trick in the book to keep his Alpha as calm and rational as possible. It wasn't working very well, but he had no other brilliant ideas to try.

Mission briefings turned into increasingly tense battles of will between Gabriel and Genji. The less sense Gabriel's orders made, the more Genji pushed back, and Gabriel responded with far more anger and aggression than was warranted. That in turn set Genji off, until the two Alphas spent more time snarling at each other than actually working. Jesse gave himself splitting headaches, concentrating fiercely on putting out as many calming and pacifying pheromones as he could, while crooning softly in the back of his throat the whole time.

The terrifying thing was that he was pretty sure his efforts were having an effect, and it would be worse if he wasn't there. Jesse stuck to Gabriel's side like glue whenever possible, trying to make sure the two Alphas were never alone together.

Moira appeared to regard the whole mess as a grand form of entertainment. Not being ABO herself, she was immune to the effects of the scents and posturing, and would watch the battles with a little smile as she took notes. Jesse knew she had to study the progression of Gabriel's condition, but it creeped him out that she seemed to enjoy it so much.

Despite his best efforts, sooner or later he knew things had to come to a head. Finally they did, in yet another bullshit mission briefing.

"This is insane," Genji declared, his voice a growl. "The mission is suicide, and will bring disaster upon Blackwatch. It cannot be done as you've outlined it."

Genji and Gabriel squared off on opposite sides of the table, both standing with their hands planted on the surface, leaning forward in aggressive, challenging postures. Jesse sat between the two, and it felt like being trapped. He struggled against flashbacks to the bad old days in Deadlock, when his Alpha had been drinking and was spoiling for a fight - and if he couldn't have a fight, would settle for beating the shit out of his bonded beta.

Things hadn't gotten that bad here. That was what Jesse kept telling himself, but the words that echoed in his head were 'not yet', and he was deathly afraid that wasn't just his PTSD talking.

Gabriel sneered at Genji, his tone dismissive. "What, the big bad ninja can't handle a simple stealth assassination? You losing your edge, Shimada?"

Genji's growl turned to a snarl, and Jesse knew if the mask had been off, the younger Alpha would be pouring out aggressive, frustrated scents. "If we kill that man, there is _no way_ to avoid putting suspicion on Blackwatch. The entire fucking world is watching us right now, and one wrong move may cause the UN to throw the book at Overwatch as a whole for not being able to control us. This is why we should _never_ have been exposed."

Jesse wanted to throw up. The mission _was_ all but impossible. Genji was the one agent who might be able to pull it off without dying in the process, but that was a big 'might'. And he was right about the potential consequences if one tiny thing went wrong. Gabriel had been sending Genji out mostly alone recently, and the jobs were getting harder and harder. Now this.

It was difficult for Jesse not to wonder, in his darkest moments, whether Gabriel was trying to get rid of Genji. Jesse was sure that wasn't the case. Relatively sure. But it didn't help that the increasing anger and resentment between the Alphas had caused Gabriel to cut Genji off from sleeping with them. He hadn't forbidden Jesse to touch Genji during the day - ‘not yet’ - and Jesse had been doing his best to stay in contact with Genji whenever he wasn't glued to Gabe, but the restriction meant Genji's aggression was getting out of hand, too.

"Believe it or not, you aren't actually privy to all the information that crosses my desk," Gabriel retorted. "That's why I make the decisions, not you. You have your orders, Shimada. Now stop bitching about them, and get to work."

There was a moment of tense silence. What had once been a split second hesitation on Genji's part as he made the decision to accept an order had turned into a drawn out battle between the Alphas, and it got longer every time. Jesse saw Genji's fists clench, heard the creak of stressed metal underlying the Alpha's snarl. 

Usually, Genji gave in with bad grace and a growled 'Fine'. Today there was something wild and implacable in his eyes, and for one awful moment, Jesse honestly thought the ninja was about to physically attack their Commander.

Then Genji hissed out a breath like a pissed off cat, and pushed away from the table. "Whatever," he muttered, and turned his back with deliberate contempt as he headed for the door.

"Shimada!" Gabriel shouted after him, growling as well. "Are you going to do your damn job, or not?"

Genji's answer was a single fingered salute tossed over his shoulder. With a roar, Gabriel launched himself after the younger Alpha, murder written large in his eyes.

Heart in his throat, Jesse threw himself in the way, body-checking the bigger man and clinging like a burr to Gabriel's shoulders, trying to slow him down through sheer dead weight. "Gabe," he insisted, crooning frantically. "Gabe, Gabriel, don't do this. Please, darlin', don't burn this bridge. We need him."

"He is my fucking subordinate," Gabriel raged, tense enough to snap under Jesse's grip, but thankfully not shaking him off to charge after Genji. "The little bastard has gotten too full of himself, challenging me. Alpha or not, I'll teach him his place, one way or the other."

"You're pushing him too hard, you know you are," Jesse countered. Chills ran down his spine as he tried not to consider what 'or the other' meant. Surely Gabriel wasn't really sending Genji out deliberately to die. Surely. "Maybe he needs some R&R, let him cool off, give you a chance to do the same."

When Gabriel only snarled in response, Jesse threw a hard look at Moira. "Little help? Ain't this what you're here for, to help him control the excess aggression?"

"Funny. Here I thought that was your job, little beta." Moira's brogue was heavy with amusement. She loved making digs at Jesse for being a beta, one of the many, many people in the world who thought his status made him lesser. Despite the taunt, she stood and reached into her pocket for a capped syringe full of powerful tranquilizer. "I suppose this is crossing the line of being a symptom rather than simple frustration."

Gabriel transferred his aggression from the doorway Genji had disappeared through to Moira. "Don't you fucking stick me with that, O'Deorain. I'm fine, it's not a symptom, it's just a goddamn insubordinate agent pushing the limits of my patience."

"And yet, Commander, I must insist." Moira gave him a cool smile. "As we agreed, yes? In this matter, you give way to me. You can come willingly to my lab for treatment, or I can sedate you and do it anyway. Your choice."

For a moment Jesse thought Gabe was going to attack _her_ , but he finally punched the table and turned away. "Bitch. Why the hell did I hire you?"

"Not for my charming bedside manner, I assume." Moira chuckled. "You know you'll thank me later when you come to your senses. McCree, I suggest you make yourself scarce while I deal with this."

More than happy to take the excuse, Jesse fled out the doors before Gabriel could think to order him to stay put. Or worse, order him to say something specific to Genji that would only anger the other Alpha further. He wanted the hell out of that room before Moira and Gabriel got into a serious pissing contest - things always got worse before they got better, when Moira had to step in.

Being a ninja, Genji was far too good at disappearing when he wanted to, but Jesse knew his teammate's habits well enough to predict them. When Genji was this mad or upset, he always went for the high ground, climbing sheer walls and rock faces if necessary. Thankfully, the highest place in this Watchpoint had roof access for normal humans, too.

By the time Jesse reached the roof, he was thoroughly heartsick and weary in a way that had nothing to do with physical exhaustion. When he opened the door to find Genji perched on top of the railing like the fifty foot drop didn't exist, he was glad he wouldn't have to keep searching.

The moment Jesse set foot on the rooftop, Genji spoke without looking around. "If you've come to convince me to go down there and apologize, you're wasting your breath." His voice was a snarl, as pissed off as Jesse had ever heard him. "I am _so_ fucking done with this."

"What're you gonna do instead?" Jesse asked, trying for a lighthearted tone. "Flip burgers? You ain't exactly cut out for civilian life." 

He moved to stand at the railing next to where Genji sat, crossing his arms on the top and staring out at the sunset as well. He wished he could offer comfort with his scent, help calm the Alpha down off the metaphorical ledge, if not the physical one, but Genji had his mask on and wouldn't smell it.

When Genji spoke again his voice was level, as if he'd calmed now that he knew Jesse wasn't there to lecture or cajole him. "I will ask Commander Morrison for a transfer to Overwatch."

Despite the seriousness of the problem, Jesse laughed. "Yeah, right. I can see you flippin' burgers first." 

He'd expected Genji to join in - not to actually laugh, the ninja rarely even chuckled. But a snort of amusement, or a tilt of his head to acknowledge the joke. Instead Genji remained silent and still, and Jesse gaped at him in astonished dismay. "Wait, are you fuckin' serious? Genji, what the hell would you do in Overwatch? I mean, I love the whole crazy lot of 'em, but they're... they're _heroes_. Bright and shiny and idealistic and all that crap. Not like us. You were born for Blackwatch."

"You think I don't know that?" Genji made a sound of intense frustration. "I can't fucking do this anymore, McCree. Sooner or later - probably sooner - I swear I'm going to try to tear his throat out. Transferring within Blackwatch would leave me still under his command, _and_ with someone else I'd have to obey, so that would only make things worse." 

Jesse didn't know what to say to that, because it was true. The only possible good ending to this power struggle was for Genji to get out from under Gabriel entirely, not add a buffer layer that would cause more problems than it solved. At least Genji genuinely respected Morrison, and would undoubtedly follow the man's orders even though Morrison wasn't ABO at all.

The way he used to respect Gabriel. Not anymore.

Genji's thoughts appeared to follow the same path as Jesse's. "I don't know what's going wrong. I used to be much better than this at controlling my need to challenge Reyes. I only hope I can manage with Commander Morrison, since he at least won't be aggressive in return. If not, I may yet be looking for another job. Perhaps I could work as a carnival attraction. I'm certainly enough of a freak." His hands clenched on the rusty rail.

Guilt gnawed at Jesse. He hadn't realized that Genji thought all of this mess was on his shoulders. Genji's head hung low as he struggled with himself, and it was incredibly rare for him to ever lower his eyes, even when he bowed. Granted he trusted Jesse more than most, but he still almost never let his guard down. 

It was a sign of how badly this all affected the young Alpha, eating away at his confidence in his own control. Worse, that could turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy all too easily. 

"Goddamnit," Jesse muttered. "Genji, this ain't on you. Okay? You're not the one havin' trouble controlling himself."

Genji snorted. "Reyes has been doing this a lot longer than I have. It's pretty clear which of us must be causing the problem. I just don't know _why_ , or how to fix it!"

"I... I ain't supposed to... tell you this." Jesse had to struggle to get the words out, each one reluctantly dragged past the block in his throat caused by his Alpha's order not to mention this to anyone.

Genji finally glanced down at him, brow creased. "McCree, if you've been told not to talk about something, then don't talk about it."

"You need to know," Jesse insisted. "I been arguin' with Gabriel about it for months." Years, really, but the argument hadn't become urgent until the problem had so drastically grown worse. "You... he... it's... _fuck_."

Catching Jesse's gaze with his, Genji put a tone of command into his voice. "Tell me."

Gabriel's orders would always take precedence over any other Alpha's, and if Jesse resisted he could have shaken Genji’s command off easily, especially since the mask still hid the Alpha’s pheromones. But Jesse _wanted_ to obey, and the order gave him the extra push he needed to get past the block. 

"That supersoldier shit they gave Gabe and Morrison and a bunch of others, back in the Omnic Crisis? Well, apparently they didn't test it enough on ABOs before passin' it out. The damn thing is degrading, and it's affecting his control."

"What?" Stunned, Genji stared at him. He turned and slid down off the rail, coming to stand next to Jesse so they could look at each other properly. 

Now that he'd gotten the main part out, it was easier to talk about the rest. "It destabilizes him," Jesse admitted. "Always has, but the effect has gotten slowly worse over the years. That's part of why they promoted Morrison to head of Overwatch, instead of Gabriel, way back when. The brass didn't trust that he'd be able to keep a lid on his temper."

Genji's gaze went distant as he thought through the implications. "Okay, that... actually explains a few things. That's why he hired O'Deorain over Morrison's objections, isn't it? He needs her expertise in genetics and ABOs to help him." Jesse nodded, and Genji frowned. "But he and I managed fine for years. It's only been the last months that everything has gotten completely fucked up."

"It's like he hit some kinda tipping point." Miserable, Jesse lowered his gaze, scuffing his booted toe on the roof. "Ever since Venice, maybe a little before, he's been goin' downhill fast."

Genji’s eyes went dark, and Jesse knew the Alpha remembered what had happened the morning after, when Gabriel had all but attacked Jesse. "Does Morrison know? Why is Reyes still in command, if he's this irrational?"

"He knows. I assume their friendship and history are keepin’ Morrison from removing Gabriel yet, hopin’ he’ll recover. But honestly, the worst of Gabe's issues are centered around you." Jesse winced at the confession. "It's true you ain't helpin', challenging him all the time, but I don't think you've got a choice. He's pushin' you way too fuckin' hard." He sighed heavily. "Maybe you leavin' entirely _is_ the best thing you could do, right now. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. Might be he'll calm down some, if you're not right in his face."

"Has he hurt you again?" The question was low, solemn, with a dangerous edge to it.

Startled, Jesse jerked his eyes up to meet Genji's for an instant, then skittered away. "No. 'Course not." 

"That would be more believable if your voice wasn't shaking when you said it." Strong fingers caught Jesse's chin, making him shiver at the skin contact, and Genji lifted Jesse's eyes up again. Then he pulled his mask off with his other hand, leaned in close, and demanded sharply, "Jesse, is he _hurting_ you?"

This time the insistent scent of an Alpha wrapped around the words. Jesse could have fought it, resisted with the strength provided by his bond to Gabriel. He knew he _should_ fight it, that his first loyalty should be to his Alpha.

But Genji was his friend, and genuinely concerned. Rightly so. If Jesse refused to answer, Genji might take that _as_ an answer, and jump to the worst possible conclusion.

"Not on purpose," Jesse said softly. "Sometimes he loses control of his strength. And yes, that's what an abuse victim would say, that it ain't the abuser's fault. Believe me, I _know_. But this ain't like that. It ain't intentional." It really wasn't, he was sure of that. And Gabriel was always so upset with himself after it happened, so apologetic.

But the look in his eyes when he was in the middle of that loss of control... sometimes Jesse got the sick feeling that Gabriel enjoyed hurting him, for those few seconds until the Alpha came to his senses. And that fucking terrified Jesse.

The flash of protective anger in Genji's eyes suggested he wasn't buying Jesse's assurances, and the low growl in his throat backed that up. "There is _no_ excuse to hurt a loved one. Ever."

"It's a _sickness_ ," Jesse shot back. "If he'd had a limb replaced and was having trouble adjusting to how much strength he could use on me, would that make him an abuser? I ain't abandoning him when he needs me most, Genji. And he does _need_ me. I'm the only thing that keeps him steady, calms him down." 

Usually. Not always, anymore. Moira was having to step in more and more often.

"Damn it, McCree..." Genji shook his head, his expression torn. "Now I feel like I shouldn't be leaving you alone with him. But I _can't stay_."

"No, you're right about that," Jesse agreed. He turned his head into the hold Genji still had on his chin, nuzzling his cheek against the other man's hand. "I think it's best for everyone if you do go. And it ain't like you'n'me will never see each other again. We're at Headquarters all the time, I'll check in with you whenever we're there. And you can call me anytime. Okay?"

"I will miss you," Genji admitted. The soft, rough confession startled Jesse, who honestly hadn't thought Genji was all that fond of him, beyond the necessary connection they had as ABOs. "I know I have not always treated you well. But you have been kind to me, and there are not many I trust as I do you."

Touched, Jesse crooned low in his throat, ducking his head. He was so much taller than the ninja that the action didn't even come close to putting his head below Genji's, so he leaned in and rested his head against the other man's shoulder. Genji's left hand came up and threaded through Jesse's hair at the back of his neck, beneath the hat, holding him close.

"I'll miss you, too." Jesse's voice was just as hushed, just as gruff. "I care about you. You know that, right? You're important to me." Reyes was his bonded Alpha, the pillar and pinnacle of Jesse's world. But Genji had captured his own corner of Jesse's battered heart, sneaking under his defenses and setting up camp.

"I know." Genji stroked his hair. "If you ever need me, for _any_ reason, you need only call and I will come. You are important to me, too, Jesse McCree."

The use of his full name made the declaration feel like a formal vow, and Genji took his vows damn seriously. Genji wrapped his metal arm around Jesse, turning the embrace into a proper hug, threatening to make tears well up in Jesse’s eyes.

Jesse had sorely missed Genji's presence in his bed, missed those nights when the ninja would sneak in to join them. He was always gone when Jesse woke in the morning, and seemed to want to pretend he hadn't been there at all. But Jesse tried to stay awake until Genji came, made sure to turn and draw the Alpha close, so Genji would know he was truly welcome.

Voluntary bonds were rare, requiring a degree of compatibility and willingness from both parties that created a high bar. Jesse was lucky to have found one, thanked god every day that Gabriel Reyes had come into his life. And yet, if he hadn't had Reyes, Jesse had a sneaking suspicion he could have bonded with Genji, instead.

On impulse, he pulled back enough to slant his mouth across Genji's. The other man went stiff, and Jesse half expected him to yank away. Instead Genji tightened his grip on Jesse's hair and took control of the kiss, tongue pressing insistently into Jesse's mouth. 

Moaning, Jesse submitted, sagging into Genji's strong grip. They hadn’t kissed again since that disastrous first time, and now it was Jesse who clung like a drowning man to a raft. Then again, Jesse thought he could happily drown in Genji's scent, touch, and taste.

Things had been... not great in the bedroom lately, between him and Gabriel. Oh, they were having sex, and plenty of it. Alphas always had high sex drives, and like everything else about his Alpha nature, Gabe had that ramped up these days. 

But where Gabe used to be at least as concerned with Jesse's pleasure as his own, now everything had shifted to focus on Gabriel, always. And while Jesse enjoyed some rough, dominating sex, he also enjoyed taking their time and teasing on occasion, which never happened anymore. Hell, most of the time he was finishing himself off once Gabe was done with him.

Another thing his Alpha would apologize for, extensively, when he realized what he was doing, but Jesse missed the experience of being taken care of, the center of his Alpha's attention. 

Genji's attention was definitely fully on Jesse, and while the kiss was dominating, it was also sweet, his tongue darting into Jesse's mouth and seeking out the places that made Jesse moan the loudest. When they finally tore themselves apart, they were both breathing heavily. 

"Enough," Genji declared, though the heat in his gaze said he hadn't had even close to enough. "Any more and Reyes will smell me on you. I don't think that would be wise."

That was true, and Jesse shuddered at the very thought of it. Jealousy and possessiveness were two more of those Alpha traits Reyes was losing control of. Hence him kicking Genji out of bed with them. The smart thing would be for Jesse to step back, say his goodbyes, and let Genji go on his way.

But Jesse never had been very good at doing the smart thing. Standing there, feeling safe and protected and comforted for the first time in weeks, if not months, he didn't _want_ to be smart. And there was another way around the problem. 

"You could put the mask back on?" The suggestion came out shaky, because Jesse trembled in Genji's grip at his own audacity. With the mask on, Genji's scent was completely contained. As long as Jesse showered and waited a few hours before going near Reyes, which he planned to do anyhow, nothing would cling to him.

Genji clearly followed his line of thought, because he looked up at Jesse with a narrowed gaze. "Jesse..." His tone was a warning.

"Please," Jesse whispered, lowering his eyes. In submission, but also shame, because he knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew what he was asking _Genji_ to do was wrong. But god, he needed something for himself, something good and positive and easy. Something where he could relax and give himself over, and not have to worry about whether _this_ would be the time that he didn't manage to calm his partner down off the Alpha ledge.

Jesse loved Gabriel with all his being. He would give his heart, body, and soul for his Alpha's benefit, and never regret it. But surely Jesse deserved a _little_ something for himself. Just this once.

Sighing, Genji rubbed his thumb over Jesse's bottom lip. Even though it was his left hand, there was still a faintly metallic taste to his skin, like so much of him was robotic that even the flesh bits started to take on the same qualities. "Stop looking at me like that. Apparently, I'm a sucker for puppy dog eyes."

Jesse gave him a wobbly smile. "Most Alphas are. The good ones, anyway. You're definitely one of the good ones."

Genji's laugh was bitter and despairing, and the look in his eyes was the one that Jesse saw in the depths of the night, when Genji was cuddled around him and hurting badly because of the closeness, for some mysterious reason he wouldn't share. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. If I was good, I wouldn't be willing to do _this_."

As he emphasized the last word, Genji crowded Jesse back against the railing, metal thigh pushing between Jesse's to rub against his rapidly hardening cock. Genji ducked his head and bit Jesse's throat right over the pulse point. Hard, demanding, exactly the way Jesse liked it. Moaning, Jesse shivered beneath his grip, sagging back against the railing that suddenly seemed like a far too flimsy barrier between him and a very long fall. Genji tightened his grip, with arms and teeth both, holding Jesse firmly in place.

Had the Alpha decided not to put the mask on, after all? This was exactly the kind of thing that would grind his scent into Jesse's skin, make it impossible to remove for far longer than he could hope to avoid Reyes. Words were suddenly far too hard to manage, so the best Jesse could do was a 'protesting' whimper that came out sounding too much like encouragement.

With a groan of his own, Genji pulled away from Jesse's throat, and finally slipped his mask back into place. "I do not want to be the reason he causes you pain, but I apparently have no control where you are concerned."

"Sorry," Jesse murmured, abashed. "Also, not sorry, because fuck that felt good." He tipped his head back, an instinctive invitation for more, then jerked upright again when Genji growled at the unintentional teasing. "Shit, I didn't mean to..."

"Hush," Genji scolded. He reinforced the command with his thumb over Jesse's lips, pressing them into his teeth so he couldn't say anything else. "You are not responsible for my inability to regulate my desires. Nor for his. But I need to know this is not only instinct. Not like last time. _Are you sure_?"

Fuck, no, he wasn't sure. A hundred thousand doubts tumbled through Jesse's mind, mixed up with guilt and shame and longing and embarrassment. This was quite possibly the worst idea he'd ever had, and it wasn't Genji who would suffer for it if things went wrong. Well, no, that wasn't true. Gabriel would kill Genji. But it would be worse for Jesse.

But also fuck, yes, he was sure. He needed this, needed to remember how good it could be, what it _would_ be like again when Moira finally helped Gabriel combat this fucking degrading serum. Just a taste, to keep him going when things got bad.

Genji wanted to hear the confirmation, so Jesse forced himself to say it. "I'm sure. Please."

The Japanese words Genji muttered didn't include any of the handful of curses that were all Jesse knew of the language, so he had no idea what the other man said. From the tone, Jesse suspected it was their equivalent of 'God help us both'. Then Genji slid his left hand down over Jesse's chest, going straight for his belt to yank the buckle open.

Glad it wasn't going to be another dry hump through their clothes like last time, Jesse eagerly unbuttoned his shirt. He didn't take it off, aware that they were technically in a public location. Genji would hear anyone coming with enough time for them to put themselves to rights - probably - but there was only so far they could push it.

Having it open still meant Genji could access his chest and abs, and the sight seemed to distract the Alpha. He slid his hand up again, fingers following the treasure trail of hair over Jesse's abs, up to the denser patch on his chest, exploring in fascination. "Open your fly and take yourself out," Genji ordered, voice gruff and hollow behind the mask.

Jesse obeyed, fingers fumbling a bit with the zipper, catching the fabric of his briefs in the teeth but thankfully not the delicate flesh beneath. His cock was hard and aching already, slit weeping with the first drops of precome, flushed dark with trapped blood. He groaned as he fisted himself loosely, not stroking, but cupping himself to show off.

Genji certainly seemed to appreciate the display; this time his low growl was far from scolding. "Fuck, you're that hard for me already?" His heated gaze met Jesse's, challenging him. "Do you ever think about me when you touch yourself?"

"Sometimes," Jesse admitted, breathless. "On nights when you join us, sometimes I'd wake and feel you there, pressed up against my back, and get so hard it hurts." He bit his lip, wondering if he dared to say anything more.

"Tell me," Genji ordered, seeing the hesitation. He tweaked Jesse's nipple, rolling it to a hard point between his callused fingers.

Drawing a shaky breath, Jesse forced the words out. "I wish Gabe had been a mite less jealous, invited you into bed with us for more than just sleeping, once in a while. Lyin' there between you is the best fuckin' thing I've ever experienced, and it would have been even better if it was more. Sometimes when you joined us, all I could think about was what it'd be like to have you grinding against my ass from behind while he fucked me from the front."

Genji's breathing was harsh in a way it didn't usually get unless he'd had the mask off too long. "Did you do anything about those thoughts? I never felt you touch yourself. It would have woken me."

"I figured. That's why I didn't do it." That, and the strong possibility that the movement would wake Gabriel as well, who wouldn't have been amused. Jesse' breath hitched as Genji dropped his hand again, fisting Jesse's cock and stroking it in long, smooth motions. The pace was slow, but the tight squeeze demanded his full attention. "Fuck, I wanted to, though." 

He ran his own hands over the exposed skin of Genji's chest, playing with the other man's nipple as well. Genji had no body hair, whether naturally or because of all the scarring, Jesse wasn't sure. He skimmed lower, over the flexible faux skin and muscles that covered Genji's badly burned abs, to the metal plate over his groin. "May I? Please?"

"The catches are in front of the hips, at the narrowest point of the sides." Genji ducked his head with the clear intention of going for Jesse's throat again, and he cursed under his breath when the mask got in the way. 

Jesse searched for and found the latches. Once he figured out how to spring them, the plate popped free, releasing Genji's trapped, straining cock. It was a good size, nice and heavy when Jesse wrapped his hand around it, hard as iron beneath delicate skin. 

No burns here - Jesse wondered if that was deliberate somehow. It almost seemed like it had to be, considering he'd lost his legs and had so much damage all around the area. But maybe it was just that Hanzo had incapacitated him first by going for the legs, then moved upward to the vital organs, skipping the groin area.

On impulse, Jesse sank to his knees. The move pulled his cock free of Genji's grasp, but put him at the perfect level to suck the other man's dick into his mouth, if he wanted to. God, did he ever want to. He looked up for permission, and the heat in Genji's gaze nearly scorched him right through.

"Yesss," Genji hissed, before Jesse could even ask. Though most of his expression was hidden by the mask, there was no mistaking the gleam of lust in his eyes. "Do it."

"You can fuck my mouth, if you want," Jesse told him, licking his lips at the thought. Genji's cock was generous, but he had nothing on Reyes, and Jesse knew he could easily handle Genji's all the way.

In answer, Genji threaded his left hand through Jesse's hair again, knocking his hat off this time to get a better grip. "You may stroke yourself, but do not come." 

A faint whine of protest escaped before Jesse swallowed it. He desperately didn't want to be left hanging again, to finish himself off after the fact, once the Alpha was pleasured.

Using the grip on his hair, Genji tilted Jesse's head back, forcing their eyes to meet. Jesse hadn't realized he'd lowered his gaze. Genji's expression was still heated, but also serious. "Trust in me," he said. The rumble in his voice, very nearly a growl of anger, suggested he understood the unspoken reason behind Jesse's concern. "I don't want you to get yourself off because _I_ will take care of you."

Now, that was a whole different ballgame. Reassured, Jesse relaxed into his hold, and let Genji guide him forward. He licked eagerly at Genji's cock first, dragging his tongue from the base to the tip, then back down again so he could suck on the other man's balls. Genji made an incoherent noise, and tightened his grip. Pulling one sac into his mouth, Jesse rolled it over his tongue, savouring the musky taste and velvet texture.

After a moment of that Genji tugged again, and Jesse eased back, releasing the sac with a soft pop. He licked his way up, and this time wrapped his lips around the head, sucking hard. That dragged a deep groan out of Genji, who took Jesse at his word and started thrusting his hips, driving his cock back and forth over Jesse's tongue.

Opening his throat, Jesse took the length of it, suppressing his gag reflex with the ease of practice. He kept sucking, as much as he could around the movement, lashing his tongue over the tip each time Genji drew back. There was a bitter taste building, the slit weeping as Genji slowly drove both of them crazy, his pace and rhythm increasing.

Jesse's cock was doing a little weeping of its own, crying out for attention. He wrapped a hand around it and stroked, but slowly, because he was already riding the edge and didn't want to disobey. The fact that he was so close after so little was evidence that it really had been far too long since Gabriel had taken care of him properly, treated him as anything but a fucktoy.

Shoving the disloyal thoughts out of his mind, Jesse focused on the moment. If he was going to cheat on Gabe, he was _not_ going to spend that time thinking about anything but the sheer pleasure Genji could wring out of him. And goddamn, did it ever feel good. It had taken Jesse a long time to truly enjoy giving head, but he'd come to adore the sounds he could wrench from his partner with his talented tongue.

Genji was expressive, holding nothing back, his moans mingling with curses and muttered encouragement. Half of that came out in Japanese, but Jesse didn't need to understand the words. The tone conveyed the meaning just fine, especially as the words grew frantic and his pace did the same. Jesse felt the tension build, then snap within Genji; his cock pulsed hard with spurts of semen flooding Jesse's mouth. He swallowed, sucked, and swallowed again, milking everything he could get, until Genji hissed and tugged Jesse away.

Jesse panted hard, from desire as much as lack of air. His strokes had sped to match Genji's pace, and he was painfully close to the edge. It took all of his self control to force himself to stop, and then as much will again to make him pull his hand away entirely. He gave a whine of need as he did so.

Instead of dragging him up again, Genji surprised Jesse by sinking into a crouch instead. It left his head slightly higher than Jesse's kneeling posture, and just looking at the position made Jesse's knees and thighs ache, but of course Genji's cybernetic limbs didn't feel muscle strain or fatigue.

Bracing his left hand against Jesse's shoulder, he pinned Jesse back against the railing, holding him in place. Then he reached down with his _right_ hand, wrapping his fingers around Jesse's cock. The metal was hard and unyielding, but surprisingly warm, and the slight texture of the sensor-filled pads of his palm and fingertips felt fucking amazing against Jesse's sensitive skin.

"Shit, I want to taste you," Genji growled, the sound one short step above an outright snarl. "I want to know what your scent is, right now. I want _my_ scent on you."

That last was the Alpha instinct talking. If Genji _could_ smell Jesse right now, he'd probably be half wild trying to erase Gabe's scent with his own in a mark of domination, possession. In that moment, a part of Jesse wished he dared to allow it, even as most of him violently rejected the idea. He was Gabriel's, in body and soul.

But maybe not _quite_ entirely in heart, anymore.

It was the shock of that thought even more than the pleasure of Genji's hand that tipped Jesse over the edge. He shouted, remembering at the last second to hide his face against Genji's shoulder, muffling the sound. And, not incidentally, tasting the salty sheen of sweat that had sprung up on that tan, toned flesh, enjoying the taste and scent of Genji in turn. Jesse wished he could smell the Alpha properly, too, even though he knew this was for the best.

When he came back to himself, Jesse was sprawled out on the rooftop, back propped against the railing. Genji's left hand still braced him by the shoulder, while the right delicately tucked him back into his pants. Stirring, Jesse fumbled to help, getting his zipper and belt done up again.

Genji pulled away, and a moment later there was a soft click. Looking up, Jesse saw the cyborg had replaced the groin plate, covering himself. That easily, he was as calm and collected as ever. Like nothing had ever happened.

At least, until you looked at his eyes, and saw the mingled heat, regret, and sorrow there. Jesse couldn't believe he'd ever thought of his teammate as taciturn and unexpressive, difficult to read. Genji wore every emotion not on his sleeve, but in his eyes - it was just that until he'd realized what he was and eased his touch starvation, the only emotion ever showing had been rage.

Standing up, Genji then offered a hand back down to Jesse. Accepting it, Jesse let the cyborg haul him to his feet as easily as lifting a small child. It was easy to forget sometimes how strong Genji was. Yet he'd never once lost control of that strength, not even in the deepest frenzy of his need that first night. Oh, he'd left a few bruises, but only the delicious kind.

Unlike...

Consciously rejecting that thought, Jesse stepped back, putting distance between them. He hated every inch, knowing this would probably be the last time he ever got close to this man who wasn't truly his friend, but was still one of the most important people in Jesse's life. "Thanks. I needed that."

Genji dipped his head in a gesture that might have been acknowledgement, agreement, or even an indication that he'd needed it too. "Don't mention it." He went still for a moment after he spoke, and Jesse thought maybe Genji hadn't meant the words to sound quite as literal as they did.

He wasn't wrong, though. They could never, _ever_ mention this again. Clearing his throat, Jesse shoved his hands in his pockets, to resist the urge to reach out for one last touch. "Take care of yourself, Genji."

"You too, Jesse." Genji bowed, a real full-on bow, not just a nod. He even lowered his eyes, which was rare for any Alpha, but a sign of extreme respect from the paranoid ninja. "Farewell."

It didn't surprise Jesse when, instead of heading for the stairs, Genji hopped onto and then over the railing, dropping out of sight. Sighing, Jesse turned to the door. He could still smell the faintest traces of Genji's scent clinging to him, but they would fade quickly. Definitely shouldn't go near Reyes until they had, though.

He had a bad feeling it was probably going to be the last time he ever caught Genji's scent, and the idea made the tears burn again.


End file.
